


I Got You First

by Lansfics7



Series: I Got You First [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst and Feels, Angst and Humor, Angst with a Happy Ending, Avengers Family, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, Emotional Hurt, Eventual Happy Ending, Everything Hurts, Father-Son Relationship, Feels, Great lines, Heartbreaking, Hurt Peter Parker, Hurt Tony Stark, I Made Myself Cry, Irondad, Kidnapped Peter, Kidnapped Peter Parker, Movie References, Must Read, Oofs, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Ouch, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter and Tony always protect each other, Post-Spider-Man: Homecoming, Precious Peter Parker, Protective Peter Parker, Protective Tony Stark, Pure, Sassy Peter Parker, Sassy Tony Stark, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark sarcasm, Tony and Peter argue, Worried Tony Stark, spiderson
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-23
Updated: 2019-02-11
Packaged: 2019-10-14 18:38:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 115,943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17513852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lansfics7/pseuds/Lansfics7
Summary: First fic! :) This story (part 1) starts with an alternate ending of the Spiderman Homecoming ending and it stops a little before IW, with a bit of Peter and Tony fighting the green goblin! (Really really good)(Second and Third parts are out so go give them a read <3!)There's lots of Iron Dad, Spider-son, all your fav avengers, the amazing guardians of the galaxy, some awesome fight scenes, typical sarcasm and humor from the team, an awesome story and some big oofs. Peter and Tony always seem to get in and out of trouble, don't they? Tony and Peter always have each other's backs and would do anything for each other. I love my father son duo <3Just keep reading- it gets intense ;) Hope you all enjoy! Please comment your thoughts! Thanks!Disclaimer: None of these characters concepts or lines taken from any Marvel movies belong to me. All rights go to Marvel.





	1. Trapped

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave kudos and comment what you think. :)  
> 

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Twist ending to Spiderman Homecoming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoy!

Peter couldn’t move. He was trapped, rocks pinning him down at every possible point on his body. He cried out in pain the minute he woke up, blinking and gasping, his body limp. His heartbeat sped up and Peter struggled, but that only made the pain worse. He was face down in water and Peter spluttered and immediately raised his head, but that sent shooting pain down his spine. Small bits of rubble fell down on him just from that simple movement. He knew had been here a long time; the dust had settled completely around him, aside from what his movements had caused. Peter cried out in pain again, before realizing his air was running out. His gasp was desperate; he couldn’t breathe. Thank God his hands were free, limp in front of him, and he willed them to go to his neck and dig for the edge of his mask that was soaked in water. In a panic he realized it was slowly suffocating him. Peter peeled it off his face and let it fall into the puddle in front of him, taking big gulps of air. There was something red and sticky on the back of the mask and Peter gulped in horror, not wanting to raise his hand to touch the wound on his head. He had to get out of here. Peter pushed a hand up against a nearby rock, got a good grip, and braced himself, ignoring the spinning in his head.  
“Ok, ready?” He takes a quick breath and then jolts himself up with all of his might, gritting his teeth to hold back a scream, blinking away the feeling of pressure in his head and his fear of confinement. He just needs to get out of here. Come on, come on…  
Peter is straining his weak arms, pushing and pushing, trying to get out, trying, trying- failing.  
He falls limp, taking big gulps of air that he desperately needs as the rock sinks on top of him again, pushing him into the hard ground.  
Peter takes a deep breath that burns but he yells anyway.  
“Hello?!” It’s weak and timid and Peter knows he’s going to have to scream louder.  
“HELLO? Please!” Peter’s screams are raspy and clearly filled with fear, his voice raspy.  
“Hey, hey, I’m down here,” he’s hyperventilating as he shouts for help, “I’m down here, I’m stuck,” he reaches out a hand as if someone’s going to come and save him, which of course, isn’t going to happen, “I’m stuck, I can’t move, I can’t…”  
Peter falls limp again in exhaustion, on the verge of sobbing. He starts breathing hard again and sharp pain erupts in his chest as he’s somehow pushed further into the rubble. He cries out in pain and looks down, slumped and weak.  
Tony Stark comes to mind and Peter’s lip trembles as he realized he should have listened to him. He hadn’t listened, he had taken the job, and now he was in over his head, and will never get to see him again. Never see Tony look at him proudly, never get a proper hug, never get to tell him sorry, never get to spend more time with him. Tony had basically said he was a father figure. Peter had brushed it off before, since he was in the middle of a fight, but he remembered Tony saying that his own father was never there for him, and that he wanted to break the cycle, implying he thought of himself a little more than Peter’s mentor, and Peter had cut him off. He was sorry about that too. Peter tried to move again and failed.  
Ok, options, think of options, Peter thought to himself.  
Who knows you’re here?  
No one, except Ned, but he had cut off the call saying everything was fine.  
Where’s his phone?  
In Toon’s car.  
Where’s Flash’s phone?  
He had no idea.  
Could he really die here?  
Possibly.  
Peter looks in the reflection of the puddle. Half of his spiderman mask is floating and half of it is underneath the dirty puddle, instead showing Peter’s reflection Peter takes a deep breath to try and steady his breathing. The puddle shows him that he’s half Spiderman and half Peter, which means there’s a part of him that’s useless, Peter realizes miserably. Then he remembers what Mr. Stark had said to him.  
“If you’re nothing without this suit then- PETER!”  
Tony Stark’s words cut off and Peter frowns. That’s not what Tony had said.  
“PETER!”  
Peter weakly lifts his head, begging himself not to go unconscious. He recognizes the voice.  
“KID, PLEASE!” Tony! That’s Tony.  
Peter lets out a strangled scream, “Mr. Star-” He screams in pain as the building rumbles, a rock crushing hard into the back of his head. Peter tries to shake it off but his vision goes blurry and he’s losing consciousness.  
“Mr. Stark...help me...please...Tony...” Peter feels everything shut down and his head falls limp against the ground, his eyes shutting, tears sliding silently down his cheeks. Darkness wraps him up and carries him and the excruciating pain away from reality.

Tony is searching the rubble, his mind swirling. The last half hour had gone by too fast for him to handle. Peter’s friend Ned had called him and explained everything that was about to happen. It was far too late to stop the plane from crashing on the beach; the Vulture had told him that as he hacked into Tony’s coms. Tony had brought the plane down, and it was headed to crash on the beach which was cleared of pedestrians.  
But none of that mattered.  
One sentence had made Tony forget everything that was in that plane, every thought he had, every instinct- one sentence made his world stop.  
“You might want to find the kid first,” Vulture snarled.  
That’s when Tony had calculated the path to the beach, knocked out the engine, and yelled over the coms, “Where is he? What did you do to him?”  
“Let’s just say the walls came tumbling down,” Vulture laughed harshly as he cut off coms leaving Tony screaming on the outside of the invisible jet...screaming into an empty line.  
“No! Where’s P-” Tony yelled in anger cursing as the plane dropped below him. He spun around in the air, using his boosters to fly back to the city.  
“FRIDAY, track Peter’s suit…” Tony’s voice failed him as he realized he had took the boy’s suit. He had took the one thing that maybe could have stopped whatever happened to Peter. Tony refused to believe the boy was dead and he yelled so loud his ears started ringing, “FRIDAY locate collapsed buildings. News, social media, whatever, just do it! DO IT NOW! HURRY FRIDAY!”  
“On it boss.” The A.I. wasn’t capable of having emotion, but to Tony’s ears, her voice sounded worried.  
“There’s one. Warehouse not that far from here.” Friday gave him directions and Tony shot across the sky to go reach Peter. To go reach Spiderman. To go reach his kid.  
Tony felt tears falling down his cheeks as he landed in the section FRIDAY had led him to. Tony never cried. Until now. He looked ahead and saw an old warehouse that was collapsed in on itself. It was certainly recent and although Tony hoped that Peter was here somewhere, his heart fell to the bottom of his chest when he realized that Peter could be- Oh God…  
He could be underneath all of that.  
“I’ve located him sir,” FRIDAY said nervously over the com.  
“Where?!” Tony asked urgently, “And status report. Is he alive? FRIDAY is he alive?!”  
“Yes. He...he seems to be moving. I can’t tell what his injuries are, he’s too deep.”  
“Too deep,” Tony repeated breathlessly, “Can you patch him through?” Tony said, as he was running toward the beginning of the rubble.  
“I can try sir.”  
Just then there’s static and Tony hears his kid’s voice in his helmet. It’s rough, racked with pain, trembling, muffled, and breaking up, but it’s his kid. It’s Peter.  
“Hel- HELLO! Pleas- hey I’m down- I’m stu- can’t move- I can’t-”  
His voice sends pain through Tony’s chest and he yells in anger for his boy, running a surveillance camera for heat signatures across the rubble, still making his way forward. Tony’s helmet shrinks back around his neck. The minute it’s off, Tony can scream. “Pete!”  
Nothing. No answer. Just awful silence.  
“PETER!” Tony yells again, tears streaming down his face. His voice cracks with fear and sadness, “PETER! KID PLEASE-” Tony’s voice cuts off into a sob, but he’s not giving up.  
Just then, there’s static on his coms and a shaky voice fills Tony’s ears, “Mr. Star-” The boy screams in pain and Tony feels the ground shake like something had shifted.  
Tony whirled, freaking out as Peter’s voice was cut off.  
Then he hears it again, almost having a heart attack in relief, “Mr. Stark...help me… Please, Tony-” The voice trails off for good. Tony’s heart hurts, hot tears in his eyes as he rushes forward. He needed to find him. Peter was in there. The closest thing he had to a son was in there.  
Tony’s running, running, and finally FRIDAY gets an exact location. Well pretty exact: a 10 foot perimeter. Tony stops and whirls, “KID! PETER!”  
Eventually, his eyes fall on Peter’s handmade red and blue suit, crushed by huge pieces of rock, metal beams, and concrete. Tony chokes on his next words and flies over to his kid, using his hand thrusters and dropping to the ground. He runs the remaining feet, diving to his knees in a puddle and letting out a strangled, “Peter!”  
The boy is unconscious, the back of his head bleeding. He doesn’t move.  
Tony takes the kid’s limp hand and raises his head to cup his chin looking anxiously at his face. Peter’s eyes are closed.  
Tony shakes his head, “No, Peter come on, wake up. Kid I need you to wake up. Peter!” Open your eyes Pete, come on, Tony thinks. But they don’t open. Tony can’t even tell if he’s breathing just by looking at him; there’s so much rock covering his small body.  
“FRIDAY is he-” Tony doesn’t want to say it. His voice cracks with emotion.  
“No boss.” She pauses, “In fact he seems to be waking up. Keep talking to him,” The A.I. urges.  
“Peter, you’re gonna be ok, it’s gonna be ok, alright kid?” Tony says, “I’m going to get you out of here...Peter,”  
The kid stirs, his hand gripped Tony’s, his beautiful brown eyes shooting wide open. His messy hair is in wet curls and Peter coughs from the dust.  
“Mr. Stark?” He says, blinking. His gaze is unfocused.  
Tony speaks softly, “Hey it’s me kid, don’t move ok?”  
Peter is wide awake now and he’s crying, “Get me out! Please Mr. Stark, get me out.” The boy’s face contorts in pain, “Oh it hurts Tony,” he lets out a small whimper through gritted teeth before he mumbles, “I want to go home, Tony please-”  
Tony nods, tears coming to his eyes, “Pete you’re gonna be ok. Just let me get this off of you-”  
Tony stands up but now Peter is grabbing his leg.  
“No wait, no, don’t leave me, please Mr. Stark don’t-”  
“I’m not leaving you,” Tony promises, “I’m not, ok? I need to get all this off of you. Just hold on.”  
“No, I don’t want you to-” Peter’s voice is broken.  
Tony looks the kid dead in the eye and speaks firmly, “I’m not going anywhere ok? I’m not leaving you. I’m never leaving you. I just need to get all this rock off you, ok kid?”  
Peter grits his teeth, his eyes scrunched up because he doesn’t want to cry and he nods bravely.  
Tony flies into the sky and uses his beams to cut away at the rock before coming back to Peter who’s struggling in vain to get the remaining rocks off of him. There’s one more big section preventing him from escape.  
“Ok kid get ready to get out alright?” Tony says. Peter nods. Tony grips the edge of the rock with his metal fingers and lifts it. Rocks rumble and fall off the other side. Tony makes sure the suit is stable before he ejects himself from it so he can go to Peter who’s trying to squeeze his way out of the rubble. Tony grabs his waist and Peter pushes through the last crack, falling into Tony’s arms in tears. The kid sobs against his chest and Tony sinks to the ground with him, holding the boy tight. Tony runs his hands through Peter’s hair as the kid curls against him, his shoulders shuddering as huge sobs rack his broken body.  
“FRIDAY status report.” Tony says softly, not letting the kid go yet. Peter is trembling against him, his breathing returning to normal.  
“Not good boss. Broken ribs, concussion, internal bleeding, broken ankle.”  
Peter hugs him tighter at that, ignoring the broken ribs.  
“I’m sorry,” Peter whispers, his limp body sinking into Tony’s.  
Tony bites his lip. This kid was apologizing to him? “You have nothing to be sorry about kid. This is all my fault. I need to get you to a hospital ok? Just hang on.”  
“I...Ok...dad,” Peter mumbles. Tony nods, glad Peter’s ok. Then the words register and Tony realizes Peter had called him Dad. Tony had always wanted to be the father figure Peter never had, but he didn’t want to overstep. Peter had said it now, but from the state Peter was in and how out of sorts he was acting, Tony tried not to take it literally. He probably didn’t even know what he was saying. Tony's chest grew warm as he gripped his kid, never wanting to let go again. He felt so small in his arms.  
“I’m so sorry Pete,” Tony whispered softly as the Ironman suit drops the rock and encloses around Tony’s body. He puts one arm under Peter’s legs and holds him against his metal chest tightly. Peter whimpers in pain, and grits his teeth again, his hands reaching up around Tony’s neck and he buried his face into the metal suit.  
“Hang on kid,” Tony says with tears in his eyes as he blasts off and flies as fast as he can to the nearest hospital. 

“Help! I need help!” Tony yells. The nurses look startled to see Ironman walking into their hospital but when their gaze fall on Peter, broken and bleeding, they snap out of it. They take Peter from Tony and rush him down the hallway in a stretcher. Tony starts to follow but a nurse puts her hand out, “I’m going to have to ask you to wait here. He’s going to be ok. We’ll call you out when he’s ready.”  
“But-” Tony protests weakly.  
The nurse has already rushed away and Tony sinks down into a chair, his metal clinking softly.  
He calls Pepper who rushes over, and then calls Happy to sort things out and get a crew on the building and Toons. He hangs up and throws the phone into the seat next to him, his head spinning. Pepper walks into the waiting room 10 minutes later and finds a broken Ironman, with his head in his hands.

Tony falls asleep, exhausted, at the hospital. He’s already called May and told her what happened. Well...a version of what had happened. A car crash during the Stark Internship. She’s furious with him and she has every right to be. She's yelling and sobbing over the line and Tony is taking the hits he deserves. The hits that Peter should have given him, but didn’t. The poor kid blamed himself, but Tony knows it’s all his fault. May finally calms down so he can tell her what hospital Peter is being treated in and she says she’ll be there as soon as she can.  
“I'm sorry May,” he says in a broken voice before they hang up. Pepper rubs his back and says she’s going to get him something to eat and some coffee. Tony’s stomach grumbles and he nods slowly. She kisses him gently and walks out the door, leaving Tony in the waiting room alone.  
It seems like an eternity until finally some other doctor comes out and calls Peter’s name, Tony jumps to his feet, ejecting himself from the suit which is sitting in the chair. Tony looks behind the doctor and asks, “Where is he? I need to see him.”  
“I’m sorry sir, but since he was in such critical condition, the policy is family only. You can come back at another time-”  
Tony’s eyes flash and he shakes his head weakly, too tired to argue, “No, you don’t understand-”  
The doctor shakes his head, “Sir I’m sorry but-”  
Tony snaps.  
“That’s my SON!” Tony yells desperately. He had just screamed it, in hopes of seeing Peter, but his voice was believable. His look was believable. He even believed himself. Why? Because it was partially true. The doctor looks shocked and steps sideways a bit. Tony pushes past him and storms down the hallway, his eyes skimming all of the names.  
PETER P.  
Tony rushes in, almost breaking off the handle. His gaze falls on Peter immediately and his heart shatters. He feels tears in his eyes as he walks slowly over to the bed. Peter looks pale against the white sheets if that’s even possible. His chest is wrapped up with bandages and his ankle is in a cast. There’s blood on a bandage in his side, and Tony guesses that’s where he had his surgery. But that’s not all. Peter’s got a nasty black eye and a bruise on his jaw, but both are slowly fading. A couple of the cuts Tony had seen when he was under the rubble are gone, which means his Spider regeneration is working. That gives Tony a little hope. He goes over to Peter’s head and strokes the kid’s hair, muttering, “I’m so sorry Pete. I’m sorry kid.” Tony’s hand is shaking and he holds his bad arm, the left one, before reaching up and rubbing his own neck, which sore from the slump of his head in the chair as he slept.  
Tony pulls up a chair next to Peter’s bed with trembling fingers and takes Peter’s hand, resting his forehead on Peter’s arm. And Tony just stays like that, tears falling down his cheeks.  
A few minutes later a nurse, oblivious to what had happened with the doctor, says, “Sir you can’t be here-”  
“Tony?” Peter whispers, his voice hoarse.  
“Yeah it’s me Pete,” Tony looks up, blinking, breathing a sigh of relief. Peter’s hand weakly squeezes Tony’s.  
“Hi,” Peter says quietly. He smiles a bit.  
The nurse’s eyes widen a bit and she apologizes softly before backing out of the room and closing the door.  
Peter swallows, blinking again.  
“Hey kid,” he says softly, putting both of his hands around Peter’s limp one, “Are you alright?” Tony says, blinking back tears.  
Peter closes his eyes and licks his lips before scrunching up his nose, “It hurts.”  
“I know Pete, I’m- I’m so sorry.” Tony’s heart is being squeezed by a fist and he puts his forehead on the bed, breathing into the sheets.  
Tony looks up at his kid with bleary eyes and a weak smile.  
Peter nods, “I’m going to be ok.”  
“I know kid,” Tony fakes annoyance to hide his real pain and fear, “I know, I just…” Tony trails off, rubbing his fist against his eye.  
“Your plane, Toons, what happened?” Peter asks.  
“The plane crashed. A first responder team was sent out. Toons is in jail. He can’t hurt you anymore,” Tony said softly. He shouldn’t have hurt him in the first place. Tony swears no one will hurt his kid and get away with it ever again. If he could, he’d kill Toons himself.  
“All of your stuff Tony,” Peter said weakly, his eyebrows knit and his face showing disappointment and shame. Almost like he was embarrassed that he didn’t do more. This kid was purer than any of the Avengers. Period.  
“It’s ok Pete. Don’t worry about all that, it doesn’t matter. You matter, you hear me Pete? Don’t worry about all the stuff.”  
Peter smiles slightly, blushing before sinking back into the bed, “I’m kinda tired.”  
“I know. Get some sleep-” Tony says, brushing the kid’s hair away from his face and squeezing his hand one last time. He doesn’t want to leave but he gets up and pushes his chair back. Then a hand grabs his sleeve and Tony turns around.  
“Stay Tony,” Peter says weakly. He’s the one holding his sleeve, “Stay? Please?”  
“You got it kid,” Tony tries to hide his happiness and he nods, sitting back down in the chair and lays forward, his hand holding Peter’s as they both fall asleep. 

May rushes in a couple minutes later and sees the two of them, sleeping soundly. Tony’s face is scrunched with worry and pain, and she sees tear marks on his cheeks. Peter looks rather peaceful, sleeping curled toward Tony, one hand holding Stark’s and one hand slumped against Iron Man's head as if he had been running his fingers through the messy black and grey buzz cut. May realizes how close they had become. A large portion of her anger at the billionaire melted away just then. She walks quietly over to Peter’s head and kisses him softly on the cheek. She smiles at her son and his father figure one more time before walking out to go meet Pepper in the waiting room.


	2. If A.I.'s could smile

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit short- it's the last bit of fluff before we get some action ;)  
> Tony and Peter hang out at the compound, watch some Star Wars, eat some ice cream, and have some good quality bonding time.

Peter stared at the clock like he did every day for the last year of his life, waiting for the bell to ring. When it finally did, Peter was the first out, squeezing through people by the door and flying down the steps of his school. A huge grin was plastered on his face. Peter jumped the last set of stairs and ran to the Audi that was parked out front. Wow, he had missed that car.  
“Happy!” Peter hopped inside, shoving his backpack to the seat next to him and grinning at the man in the front seat.  
“Hey kid!” Happy’s voice wasn’t the usual monotone for once, and Peter knew Happy was pleased to see him as they drove off down the road. Peter hadn’t seen him for weeks, which felt like an eternity, and it was good to see the man smirk slightly.  
Peter hadn’t seen Mr. Stark in a long time either. After the whole Vulture thing, Peter had stayed in the hospital for a week. A recovery that should have taken months, took Peter 7 days. It was a miracle, the doctors had said, and they were still puzzled. Tony might have paid them not to say anything. The important thing was that Peter’s identity was safe; Tony had convinced the press that the kid (whose face was blurred out) was just an intern- in a spider suit- a very dedicated intern, who had gotten hurt, and Tony had flown him to the hospital. The news had been drowned out pretty quickly, and as far as his friends and May knew, Peter had been in a car accident. (He still hadn’t told May, and after what had happened, he didn’t want to, in fear that she wouldn’t allow him to be Spiderman anymore.) Then Tony had dropped a huge bomb on him a day after he was released from the hospital. A place on the Avengers, and an amazing suit. But Peter had turned him down, wanting to stay on the ground for a little while longer and look out for the little guy. His fight with the Vulture had humbled him and given him perspective. He was also pretty sure Tony was testing him. Soon after, Peter had returned to school with a bunch of homework and tests to make up so Mr. Stark had asked Peter to take a few weeks off of being Spiderman and hold off on coming to visit so he could get all his grades up and work done. Peter had done so only because Mr. Stark had asked, but he wasn’t happy about it. 

Now there were some pros to it. Peter had usually slept over at the compound a lot, and lately he was having nightmares, which he didn’t really want Mr. Stark to know about. (Just so he didn’t worry, because Tony, was good at worrying.) They weren’t those babyish nightmares you have as a kid, but full fledged reenactments of the worst parts of his fight, mostly getting crushed under the building. But in his dreams, Tony hadn’t come and saved him, contrary to what actually happened. It was awful, and most nights Peter had woken up in tears with tangled bedsheets, soaked with sweat. He had gotten better now about coping with his own form of PTSD, but the nightmares didn’t stop and sometimes he’d wake up and just see green eyes bearing down on him before he actually bolted up to a dark, empty room. Peter shook those thoughts out of his head and disobeyed Happy’s order to get some sleep. Peter was tired, but he pulled out his homework and started scribbling so that he and Mr. Stark would have more time together. 

When they had finally got to the compound, Peter only had his science homework left, which he would let Tony help him with. Peter didn’t need help, but it was fun to do homework with your da- Iron Man. Mr. Stark. Tony.   
Peter knit his eyebrows. He had been doing that lately. Calling Tony dad. It’s innocent slip ups, mostly because of the fact that Mr. Stark has stepped in as the father he never had. Peter didn’t know if Tony thought of him as a son, but he definitely knew that the many accidental times he himself has slipped up isn’t for nothing. He knew he had called him dad twice when getting crushed by the building, and once in the hospital, and he really meant it. According to Pepper, who told him to keep this a secret, Tony had yelled that Peter was his son so that he could go see him in his hospital bed. Those thoughts made Peter happy, a warm feeling spreading in his chest because he was sure that Tony didn’t just say that to get past the doctor, at least he hoped not. Peter was very happy by the time they had entered the compound. He missed Tony a lot, and when he was with him, all of the terrors and stress Peter was dealing with melted away.  
Happy didn’t even have time to turn off the car because Peter was jumping out with a quick, “Thanks Happy!” and bounding up the stairs. He ran the halls, waving hi to passing workers he knew and taking sharp turns, his grin getting bigger and bigger as he got closer. Peter skidded to a stop at the labs and held his breath. Peter smiled.   
The man was dressed in a black shirt and jeans, which matched his black buzz cut. He was leaned over a computer, his back turned, and he hadn’t seen Peter yet.   
“Mr. Stark!” Peter yelled joyfully, walking into the room.   
Tony turned, the arc reactor gleaming through his shirt. His mouth widened into a happy smile, “Hey kid!”  
Peter couldn’t help it, he ran over to Tony and gave him a hug. Tony obliged, after a second of slight shock,ruffling Peter’s hair.   
“It’s good to have you back,” Tony said, after he pulled away, smiling really wide.  
Peter grinned, “It’s good to be back sir,” It really was.   
Tony winked, “Informal Pete, informal.” Tony’s chest puffed up a little and he had an excited look in his eyes, “Ok come here, I’ve got to show you something.” He sounded excited as he put his arm around Peter’s shoulders and led him to the back of the room.   
“So have I mentioned how proud I am of you turning down the Avengers position?” Tony asked.  
“Yeah,” Peter nodded, blushing. Many times in the past couple weeks.   
“Mature decision. Anyway, I figured when you do join the team, and try on this new suit, it better be good.” Tony tapped a spot on his wrist and the wall opened up, revealing the Iron Spider suit that Peter had turned down after he had gotten out of the hospital. Peter gaped at it, even though he had seen it before. It was just so cool.  
Tony was still talking, “So I say we give it all kinds of stuff and improve it for when you’re ready. Then you have to help me work on my suit, I have to upgrade my blasters, they’re overloading for some reason, and then you can go do your homework and I’ll make dinner,”  
“And then Star Wars and ice cream?” Peter asked hopefully, grinning.  
“And then Legoland too?” Tony teased before he winked, “Sure kid. Sound good?”  
Peter blushed, “Sounds amazing Mr. Stark. I’ve missed this...I’ve…” Peter was just going to say it, “I’ve missed...you.”  
Tony squeezed Peter’s shoulders, “I’ve missed you too kid.”

It was amazing working with Mr. Stark. Sometimes Peter didn’t even do anything, he just stood in awe, watching his idol’s hands blur across screens, keyboards, the suit, tiny pieces of equipment they had crafted from scratch. Peter and Tony worked for an hour extra than they had planned to and Peter jumped when Tony whistled, “Aren’t you hungry kid? Let’s take a break. Do some homework, I’ll make some pizza or something.”  
Peter set down his pencil and calculator and turned off the Iron Man repulsor he had been fiddling with. He nodded and grinned, shaking out his tired hands and cracking his knuckles.   
“Skidaddle young buck!” Tony called after him.  
“I’m going, I’m going,” Peter grabbed his backpack that was on the couch and ran off to his room.

No matter how many times Peter walked in to his room at the compound, his face lit up. He had Star Wars, Star Trek, Indiana Jones, and Alien posters covering the wall, a loft bed with a desk underneath, a walk in closet with blue jeans, hoodies, and shirts Tony had gotten him for when he stayed the weekend (mostly ones with science puns or Stark Internship t-shirts), a huge bookshelf filled with chemistry books, mechanical books, algebra books- basically Peter heaven. And it was all courtesy of Mr. Stark. He had designed Peter’s room just for him, giving him everything he would ever need.   
Peter jumped into his chair and quickly ran through his spanish homework, just in time for Karen to speak, the A.I.’s voice ringing out from his Echo Dot that Mr. Stark had synched up, “Peter, it’s time for dinner.”  
“Thanks Karen,” Peter said gleefully, jumping up and throwing on a Stark Internships hoodie before running down the steps. He slid into the kitchen and plopped down into a chair at the table as Mr. Stark looked up from the sink.  
“Hey kid you want to stay the night? I can drive you to school tomorrow?” Mr. Stark offered, trying and failing to hide the hopefulness in his voice.  
Peter grinned, blushing, “That would be great, yeah!”  
“FRIDAY text May Parker, let her know Peter will be staying here tonight,” Tony said happily.  
“Sure thing.”  
Peter ate his food greedily, and talked with his mouth full about his day before Tony could even ask. It was a very boring day, but Mr. Stark listened politely and intently as Peter described every detail. He was talking so fast he forgot to leave out the parts about Flash being a straight up bully in his science class-  
“You know you can stick up for yourself right Pete?” Mr. Stark asked, eyeing him thoughtfully.   
Peter moved the pasta Tony had made around his plate with his fork, “That’s the thing though Mr. Stark, I can’t. I mean…” Peter searched for the words, knitting his eyebrows, “I can, as Spiderman, but Peter Parker wouldn’t. So I...can’t.”  
Tony nodded, raising his eyebrows, “You’re a good kid Peter, always thinking of others, even the ones who aren’t so good.”  
Peter picked up his slice of pizza but never took a bite, “I just don’t want to hurt anyone. I help people,” Peter said, before perking up as he realized how deep this conversation was going to go if he let it...so he steered it back on track for both of their sakes, “Look, Mr. Stark, if it gets out of hand, I’m not going to just let it happen, I’ll step up, but only when I really have to, and right now it’s...it’s not that bad, honest.”  
Mr. Stark’s gaze was right on him and finally he nodded, “Ok Pete.”   
The two talked about their suits and the news until they finished their dinner and got up from the table. It seemed so normal with Mr. Stark and Peter was proud of the long way he had come since Tony had first approached him a couple months ago. Tony laughed at something Peter had said and ruffled his hair and in that moment, Peter forgot every bad thing that had happened to him in the past few months..  
They then made their way over to the freezer and got out some ice cream. Peter drowned his with hot fudge as Tony laughed and flipped him a spoon.  
Peter swung himself onto the couch with his web shooter he had swiped from his bag, “Hurry up Mr. Stark,” he laughed.   
“Alright underoos, I’m coming.” A smile crinkled Tony’s warm eyes and Peter smirked.  
Tony put in the Star Wars marathon, the original trilogy. Peter and Tony talked and mimicked iconic lines throughout the first half before settling in to actually watch the last half of the movie. Their bowls of ice cream were set on the coffee table in front of them.   
Peter and Tony had barely made it through A New Hope when Peter started to fall asleep, scooting toward Tony’s chest out of instinct. It was only when he was almost up against Tony that he realized what he had done and Peter froze, trying to keep his head up to watch Luke blow up the Death Star. He was frozen an inch from Tony’s warm figure, the position really uncomfortable and hurting his back. Then he felt an arm around his shoulder and he groggily raised his gaze to see it was Tony, who had moved closer so Peter didn’t awkwardly need hold the position he was in. Peter was too tired to find this embarrassing as he lay his head on Tony’s shoulder and slowly felt his eyes close, his head droop, and he fell asleep against his idol. 

Next thing Peter knew, he was stumbling into bed, guided by strong arms. The covers were pulled over him as Peter nestled into his bed. Peter’s brain was already shutting down again and he mumbled, “Mr. Stark?”  
“Yeah kid, it’s me, I’ll see you tomorrow alright Pete?” A hand brushed his hair as Peter’s eyes started closing. He didn’t remember what that felt like. It had happened so long ago. Peter didn’t have a father, but he figured this was the part where he said thank you.   
“Thanks Dad,” Peter whispered as his eyes closed. 

If he had been awake he would have seen the shock on Tony Stark’s face and the joy that overtook him in that moment. It was different than the hospital. Tony knew people said weird things when they were in pain, scared, panicked, or on the brink of death. But this...this was a casual, a sincere, and honest instance. Tony smiled so wide, a little shocked.  
“FRIDAY, save the audio recording of a couple seconds ago, would you?” Tony asked.   
”Sure thing boss,” FRIDAY said, and if A.I.’s could smile, he knew she would be right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for the comments and kudos! I'm so glad you all like it. Because that chapter was a little short, and I'm far enough in writing wise that a double post won't hurt, I'll post 3 as well. Enjoy!


	3. I can't lose you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally some nice action! YAY.  
> Peter skips free period to go help Tony fight bad guys, and things take a painful turn. When it's finally over, Tony and Peter have a heart to heart and they realize how much they mean to each other.

Peter sat in school, again waiting for the bell to ring. He had already texted Ned that he couldn’t meet up after school. Now he was just waiting for the second hand to make its way around the clock. 3, 2, 1- the bell sounds. Peter gleefully lunged out of his seat and ran through the halls. He got to the door of the school, shoving it open, but the minute he got one foot outside he was tripped. Peter pitched forward and fell, putting a hand out to stop himself before he could tumble down the steps.  
“Where you going Parker?”  
Peter didn’t even need to see the face to know who it was. His cheeks get red as he picked himself up, brushing off his jeans, “Stark Internships,”  
“Yeah, sure,” Flash scoffed walking towards him from his spot against the building, “And I bet that nice Audi is waiting for you too huh?”  
Peter backed up as Flash took a step forward and nodded, “Yeah, it is actually.”  
“Don’t try that crap with me Parker. Everyone knows you’re a liar,” Flash laughs.  
“That’s not true!” Peter shoots back.  
Flash scoffs, “Right because you’re friends with Tony Stark and Spiderman right? They probably pulled strings to get you on the decathlon team, that’s the only logical explanation.”  
“Just leave me alone Flash,” Peter grumbles.  
“And what was that, embarrassing me today? You got the whole class laughing, I bet that felt good didn’t it?” Flash said, slightly annoyed.  
Peter glares at him, “I’m sorry smarter than you Flash. Is that why you’re always picking on me?”  
Flash’s glare darkens and Peter guessed that probably wasn’t the right thing to say.  
Flash shakes his head, “You better hope your pal Spiderman swoops in to save you Parker, because you’re dead.”  
Peter backs up but Flash grabs Peter’s collar, forcing him back up the steps, “I’ve had enough of-”  
Flash suddenly stops his sentence, his eyes that were trained fiercely on Peter move to the left of him. Peter can’t turn around to see why he stopped because Flash still has a grip on his shirt.  
“Eugene Thompson is it?”  
Peter recognizes the voice and he hides a smile as he settles back to watch the show. Tony Stark steps up next to Peter and rubs his chin, pointing at Flash, “1st alternate on the decathlon team and a real jerk I’ve heard.”  
Flash’s mouth is wide open but it gets wider from the next line Mr. Stark says.  
“Take your hand off Mr. Parker please,” Tony says calmly but fiercely.  
Flash lets go of Peter immediately and blinks, gulping.  
“Thank you. So I think we’re done here,” Tony says, clasping his hands casually, “You can go Eugene,” Tony commands Flash who backs up as Tony puts an arm around Peter and turns him around, shooting one last angry look at Flash, “Let’s go Pete.”  
Peter walks to the car with Tony and gets in the front passengers seat, and he sees Flash watching in awe from within the school’s glass doors.  
“What’s the occasion Mr. Stark? Usually Happy comes,” Peter questions, wanting to stay away from the discussion that will eventually occur over what just happened..  
Tony shrugs and looks over at him, “I don’t know I’m thinking of making this a semi-regular thing, if it’s alright with you?”  
Peter smiles and nods as Tony starts the car, “That...that’s more than ok with me, that’s great.”  
The car drives away and Tony takes off his sunglasses, putting him in the compartment above their heads.  
Peter breaks the silence and sighs, knowing that he might as well just bring it up now rather than later, “That was pretty cool Mr. Stark.”  
“Yeah it was,” Tony admits, cracking a smile, “But I shouldn’t have had to do that kid.”  
“He’s just pissed because I’m smarter than him. I answered a question right today and he didn’t like it,” Peter grumbled, shrugging.  
“Darn right you’re smarter,” Tony nods proudly, looking over at Peter whose chest is puffed up a little at that against his will.  
“Smartest kid in the world,” Tony says thoughtfully, keeping his eyes on the road.  
Peter smiles at that, and he doesn’t stop smiling for the car ride to the compound.

Tony goes in to check on Peter who is doing his science homework and he sees a pamphlet on an award ceremony. Peter’s at his desk. He turns and Tony smiles; he’s got on the glasses Tony had gotten him. The black ones with thick frames. Peter didn’t need glasses since he was Spiderman, but seemed to like them. They were no prescription, but Peter said they made him look more professional.  
Back to the pamphlet. While Tony talks to him, he opens it, surprised to see Peter’s name on the list. Father Son Science and Technology Award Ceremony for displaying Exemplary Knowledge. It seemed like a really important thing and so Tony cuts Peter off, who is currently explaining how he understood this really hard Chemistry question he was working on.  
“Pete why didn’t you tell me about this?”  
Peter looked up over his glasses and his gaze flicked to the pamphlet, “It’s not that big of a deal,” Peter said, shrugging.  
“Yeah it is kid, there’s only 6 people on the list and you’re one of them,” Tony said.  
“Yeah and so’s Flash, because his dad pulled strings,” Peter pointed to the bully’s name angrily before shrugging again, “It’s not going to be that fun, I just get a piece of paper saying: good job, you’re smart!”  
Tony raised his eyebrows, “You’re going, right?”  
Peter nodded, rubbing his nose underneath the bridge, “Yeah, I guess so.”  
Tony patted his kid on the shoulder and told him to finish his homework and that he would call him down for dinner when he was ready. Peter nodded and continued scribbling on his homework, typing things into his calculator furiously. Tony smiled and shut the door quietly behind him. He walked downstairs and told FRIDAY to set a reminder, “Talk to May about the Award Ceremony.”

 

Peter was in free period a couple days later when his phone buzzed. He and Ned and synced his phone to a police station’s comms so he knew when and where stuff was happening. It wasn’t exactly legal, and Mr. Stark didn’t exactly know about it, but it was for a good cause.  
Peter skimmed the alert. There were Citizens held hostage in a building. It was currently, surrounded by police, but their forced hadn’t gained anything over the past hour. The location wasn’t far from school. Peter checked his watch. He had 1 hour and 15 minutes left before Chemistry. That’s enough time. Peter jumped the school fence and grabbed his suit out of his backpack, putting it on in an alleyway.  
He threw his backpack up the wall and shot a web at it before jumping to the top of the building and jumping off. Peter swung from building to building as Karen gave him directions, a little pissed he was ditching school.  
When he reached the building, he heard gunfire and screaming, and news cameras panned on him as Peter crashed through the nearest window. He tucked and rolled before slowly getting to his feet. He heard fighting in the floor above him and he rushed to the stairs. He had made it to the top level and his Spidey senses suddenly tingled. Peter’s head snapped to his right just in time to see a man with a bulletproof vest and mask, slam Iron Man to the ground and point a gun right at Tony’s arc reactor.  
“I don’t think so!” Peter yelled, shooting a web at the gun and yanking his arm to the side before shooting another web at the man’s chest, flinging himself forward and kicking him straight in the gut with both of his feet. Peter landed in a gymnasts position before straightening and webbing the man’s arms to the wall.  
Tony looked up from the floor. He realized Tony had already had a cannon ready to blast the guy, but Peter still wanted to think he had saved his life.  
Tony’s expression is a mixture of shock, anger, and confusion, “Kid?”  
“Hey Mr. Stark,” Peter said happily.  
“Pete what are you doing here?” Tony demanded, grabbing him by the shoulders, “You could have been killed!”  
“Um, I’m helping. You’re welcome. You could have been killed,” Peter said with raised eyebrows. He didn’t mention the blaster cannon.  
“Aren’t you supposed to be in school?” Tony asked suspiciously.  
Peter put up his hands in defense, “Free period.”  
Tony didn’t like it, but after a bit of bickering back and forth, Tony realized that Peter wasn’t going to be leaving any time soon.  
“Ok tell me what you see,” Tony said, pointing to the floor. Peter meant he realized downstairs. He crouches and looks at the ground, “Karen X-ray vision and heat signatures please,” Peter requests.  
“Sure thing.”  
After a second, Peter reported, “10 hostages, 4 men with heavy weapons.”  
Tony nodded, “Right. So what’s your plan?”

“Ready Mr. Stark?” Peter asked.  
Iron Man lowered his helmet and nodded, “Ready kid. Don’t screw the pooch.”  
“Go!” Peter whispered.  
Iron Man crashed through the window before anyone could react and grabbed one of the men, smashing through the opposite end of the building with his fist and letting the man drop. Peter swung in and out of the room, shooting at web at the man’s back as he fell, and sticking him to the side of the building before climbing out of view. Chaos ensued inside the building and Iron Man made another pass. Peter webbed him up too. But then one of the remaining men yanked a woman up and held the gun at her. Peter swung in, sending a web grenade to the man on the left and stepping up to the last bad guy.  
“Hey dude, just let her go,” Peter said, hoping to talk things out.  
Tony flew in and landed next to Peter, exchanging glances with him.  
“I’ll let her go,” the man backed up to the window and Peter put his hand out, “Wait, wait, no!”  
The woman was shoved, and she disappeared over the edge with a scream.  
Without thinking, Peter lunged past the man who got decked by Iron Man’s blaster, and jumped out of the window for the woman. Peter dove, catching her and shielding her with his body as he latched onto the building and crashed through the glass into the lower level. Peter rolled to a stop and let go of the woman, shakily getting to his feet. The woman looked only bruised and he waved his hands and shouted, “Go! Get out of here, go!”  
Then Peter climbed onto the outside window and started climbing. He made it to the top and peeked over the edge, ducking as a chair sliced through the glass, sprinkling him with tiny shards. Peter flipped in and kneed the first guy he saw in the chest. Tony was fighting 2 more, who had somehow gotten out of their webs. The bullets were bouncing off of Tony’s armor with tiny pings.  
“Karen analyze their fight pattern!” Peter yelled, swinging himself to the ceiling to keep his distance and shoot webs.  
“Drop now.” Karen advised. Peter planted a kick to the other guy’s back and Tony slammed him with a iron hand. Peter stood back as Mr. Stark flipped the other guy over his shoulder. Peter grinned through his mask. Easy pea-  
His spidey senses suddenly tingled off the charts and his gaze focused on the man in the corner, holding a shaky gun up, aimed for the back of Tony’s head that was half exposed from the suit. Bullets usually bounced off of Tony’s suit, but Peter’s spidey senses wouldn’t have tingled if Tony wasn’t in danger. The path of the bullet was calculated and it appeared within his mask. Peter’s heart was in his throat as he realized it wasn’t going to miss. Tony would die.  
Peter cried out and despite the protests of Karen in his ears lunges for Tony, jumping with his enhanced agility, knocking him to the ground.  
And as he did- BANG.  
Peter’s shoulder jolted back as he fell on top of Tony and he weakly put up his other arm, that wasn’t in excruciating pain, and webbed the man to the wall. His mask was half up, and he blinked, trying to put his palms on the ground to raise himself, but he found he couldn’t- it hurt so much. Peter saw red sticky stuff on his hand when he nudged his shoulder and he blinked, his head spinning. Then he slumped against Iron Man’s chest, taking huge gasps as the pain roared at him in waves. Wow, that hurts. So this is what getting shot felt like. Good to know.  
“No!” That was Tony who had sat up, pulling Peter’s mask down, because there were people standing in shock, holding the kid to his chest, “Oh God, kid!”  
Tony knew not to say Peter’s name. Peter looked down and saw his whole shoulder and collarbone soaked in blood. He felt really dizzy and he felt his head get heavier. His eyes slowly closed.  
“No, stay with me. Come on dang it,” Tony pleaded.  
“Are you ok Mr. Stark?” Peter asked, his words slurred.  
“Oh shut up kid, no I'm not ok- I mean I am ok- you're not ok, for the love of- just stay with me. You hear me?” Tony picked him up and flew out the open window.  
When they were in the air, Tony used his name, “Peter? Stay with me, understand? It’s gonna be ok Pete. You’re gonna be ok…”  
Peter murmured a response, his eyelids getting heavy, pain radiating from his shoulder. He finally fell unconscious in Iron Man’s arms, and all he could see was darkness. 

Peter heard bits and pieces, light and darkness. He wasn’t going to the hospital, he realized, because he recognized these walls, those sounds...  
It was the compound, he realized, as his head swam from all the motion. It would be much easier to sleep. Yeah, that sounds nice. Sleep…  
“Peter stay awake!” Tony demanded from somewhere in the back of his mind.  
It was hard, but even in subconsciousness Peter would aim to impress Mr. Stark, and if that meant staying awake, well he’d try his best. He blinked drowsily, unsure of where he was. Then more pain shot through his shoulder as something dug into him, and Peter blinked wide, his mouth forming a cry that never came out. The pain receded and Peter gasped out loud, shuddering. Whatever just happened, it did not feel good. Peter’s vision was blurry but he saw he was on a metal table, and there was a container by his head with a piece of red metal on it. Tony’s hands were covered in that same liquid. Peter wondered what it was. Now his head was getting way to heavy, and his eyelids were closing. Tony didn’t yell at him from underwater, so Peter took that as permission to drift off into unconsciousness. 

Tony’s hands were still as he dug the bullet out. His kid was covered in blood on the table. Peter’s skin had closed around the bullet so Tony had to literally cut his skin again, and rip the suit. He tried to ignore the tenses Peter gave, half-conscious on the table. Tony angled the tweezers to get underneath the bullet and finally pulled it out. A little whimper came from Peter’s tight mouth, his hair plastered to his face from his sweat, his hands curled into fists. His whole body was tense. Tony dropped the bullet on the pan next to them and let out a sigh of relief. Tony’s hands were stiff, covered in Peter’s blood. He curled them into fists and blinked hard. Biting his lip, Tony pressed a sterilized cloth against Peter’s wound and got supplies to stitch it up. 

“Ow that hurts,” Peter groaned.  
“Yeah, it’s going to,” Tony had removed the bullet, and was now stitching him back up, his Spider Regeneration helping a bit. It had made for a painful extraction of metal from a body that heals itself. Tony wiped his hands that Peter noticed were trembling a bit and then he wrapped a bandage around Peter’s shoulder before he set his hand on Peter’s shoulder. The touch was soft, but his gaze was fierce. He stuck his finger out at Peter, his mouth a tight line, and didn’t say anything.  
“I’m sorry?” Peter guessed.  
“Don’t do that!” Tony said angrily, straightening.  
“Well was I just supposed to let you die?” Peter yelled, knitting his eyebrows stubbornly, “You would have died! There was a hole in your suit, the armor was chipped off and Karen plotted the path and it would have-”  
Tony shook his head, “If you had died tonight I would never have forgiven myself. If you die period I’ll never forgive myself!”  
“But-” Peter protested weakly.  
Tony shook his head, holding up a hand, his eyes flashing, “No! There’s no buts to this. You got shot Peter, do you understand that? Because it doesn’t seem like you do!”  
He tried again, “Mr. Stark-”  
“No, you see this is where you zip it Parker! The adult is talking,” Tony said fiercely. He shrugged, lowering his voice a bit, “You’re a kid. And you’re reckless I get it, but you can’t do that. There are bad people in this world and you aren’t invincible Peter!”  
“I know that!” Peter said defensively.  
“Do you?” Tony asked, “Because first it was the whole Vulture thing and that was all my fault, and now this...if he had just aimed a little bit lower-”  
“Mr. Stark I’m fine,” Peter said weakly.  
“The bullet could have hit your heart not your shoulder and you could have died Pete,” Tony said fiercely.  
Peter was (not going to lie) a little scared of the range of emotions Tony was showing and he tried again, louder this time, “Mr. Stark-”  
“These people don’t care that you’re a kid but I care Peter, I care! You got shot!” Tony yelled.  
“Tony!” Peter shouted, a little desperate.  
“I’m sorry kid,” he said softly. Iron Man calmed down a bit, rubbing his hand over his face, before he looked up at Peter, “You can’t go dying on me Pete.”  
“I’m not going to,” Peter promised.  
“You don’t know that,” Tony said, his voice rising again.  
“I can’t lose you Tony! Do you realize that? I jumped in front because… because I couldn’t jump in front last time.”  
Peter knew Tony understood he was talking about his uncle, “I had an awful feeling my stomach and I knew it was going to hit you, and I couldn’t let that happen! And yeah I didn’t care if I got hit as long as it meant you would be ok! Because I. Can’t. Lose you,” Peter yelled, his voice cracking with emotion. Tears came to his eyes and he saw Iron Man back down. Peter spoke softly, “I can’t lose anyone else.”  
“And I can’t lose you kid,” Tony said back.  
Peter looks up at Tony, trying to keep the tears back, and trying to keep the flashbacks of Uncle Ben from overwhelming his mind, “I’m sorry Mr. Stark.”  
“Me too kid,” Tony gets up from the chair he had pulled over and goes to hug Peter who is more than happy to oblige, nestling his face into the billionaire's neck and hugging him as tight as he can with one arm.  
“Oh that’s not a hug, I’m just grabbing a water bottle,” Tony says, and Peter pulls away, embarrassed.  
Tony hits him in his good arm with the Deer Park bottle he had gotten from the table behind him and smirks, “Kidding.”  
Peter grins and hugs him again, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.  
“Don’t ever do that again, ok kid?” Tony says softly.  
Peter smiles to himself and mumbles, “I won’t.”  
Peter’s eyes start to close and the rushing pain isn’t helping. He goes into a mix of both sleep and unconsciousness in Tony’s embrace. He smiles slightly in his sleep because the pain is slowly going away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed! Comment your thoughts, leave kudos, share this story, and stay tuned for Chapter 4!
> 
> (Also check out my other fanfic if you're a Teen Wolf fan or just like a good story. There will be more more Marvel and Supernatural fics coming if you're a fan of that as well.)


	4. Always

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter goes to his award ceremony and gets quite a shock, the father son duo go to the science museum, and Peter runs into a suspicious Rhodey.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! I'm so glad you all love the story! I'll update for frequently for you guys <3 Enjoy the chapter and stay tuned for 5!

It was the day of his reward ceremony and Peter walked slowly into the auditorium. His newest story was that he had been in a biking accident that fractured his shoulder. Today was the first day without the fake cast Tony had made for him to wear at school to convince his teachers. It was a pretty cool cast. Ned, Michelle, and his friends on the decathlon team had all signed it and Peter was rather sad when he had to take it off.  
Peter took a breath as he walked down the aisle to the front. Peter saw all 5 kids with their fathers, sitting in the front row and Flash sneered at him when Peter took his seat. There was an empty spot next to him- for his father he didn’t have.  
Peter wasn’t going to let that ruin this, and he wasn’t going to let Flash ruin it either. Peter kept his head up high, smiling weakly at May who was sitting on the opposite side of the auditorium, a suspicious gleam in her eyes. Peter raised an eyebrow before turning back to the stage. One by one their names were called up, and Peter tried not to let his cheeks burn as he stood there alone. Flash was given his award first and he made a “impromptu” speech that was totally bullcrap. When his principle arrived to Peter, he stumbled with his words, “Peter Parker and-” He stopped, coughing to hide his mistake and shooting Peter an apologetic look. Peter lowered his head slightly, faking a smile. A small snicker came from Flash and he saw a bunch of audience members shoot the bully a disapproving look.  
“Tony Stark,” came a voice from the side of the auditorium. Gasps rang out from the packed auditorium and heads craned to see the figure who had appeared from behind the far curtain. Peter whirled, choking on air, his eyes widening as Tony walked across the stage, buttoned his suit in a cocky fashion, and stood next to Peter.  
“Mr. Stark what are you doing here?” Peter whispered.  
Tony winked at him, “Congrats kid.” Then he addressed the principle, “There must have been a misprint. Peter Parker and Tony Stark?”  
Peter couldn’t believe what he was seeing or hearing. The principle smiled at Peter and handed the certificate to Tony who gave it over to him proudly.  
“Peter Parker and Tony Stark. Congratulations Peter,” his principle announced, nodding at him in approval.  
Peter was bursting with pride, loving all the shocked faces in the audience. Tony put his arm around Peter and smiled for the picture when all the names had been called. It was the biggest smile Peter had had for a very long time.

The minute they got off the stage, Peter turned to face Tony and hugged him tight before stuttering, “Mr. Stark thank you so much. You don’t know how much this means to me. But…” he knits his eyebrows, “What if people assume stuff now, you know about you and me, or like you being my father. I don’t want to cause any trouble Mr. Stark with the press or your company or anybody-”  
“Peter,” Tony laughed, “stop. If people assume stuff, let them assume it. I don’t care. Alright kid?”  
Peter smiled and hugged Tony “Thanks Mr. Stark,”  
“Now let me see that certificate of yours,” Tony said and Peter showed it to him with pride. Maybe it was a big deal, Peter thought.  
“Parker where’s your real dad?” A voice taunted.  
Peter turned and Flash strode toward him, his dad a stride behind him, “Oh that’s right, your parents are dead,” Flash hissed.  
“That’s quite enough,” Tony barked at Flash who shrank back a little.  
Flash’s dad stepped up, “Don’t talk to my kid like that.”  
Peter hung his head and tugged on Tony’s sleeve to go but Tony shook it off and walked right up to Flash’s dad so that they were face to face, taking off his sunglasses and narrowing cold eyes at the man. Tony was towering despite being shorter and his eyes flashed, “You’re lucky we’re in a public place or I’d blast you right now and then sue you. I doubt you really want to go up again Iron Man,” Tony said, “Do you?”  
“No.” Flash’s dad had lost all of his previous confidence and he gulps at Tony’s fierceness. Tony wasn’t done, and both Peter and Flash are staring in awe as he talks down to the man who is almost twice his size.  
“Your kid here, is rude, disrespectful and a disgrace to this school. If he so much as talks to my son again-” Tony crouched to Flash’s level, smiling fakely, his voice laced with fake calmness, “If you so much as talk to my son again, and it’s not positive encouraging words,” Tony mocked, “I will have my lawyers on your case and you will wish you never set foot in this city.”  
Tony straightened to face Flash’s dad again, who was a lot smaller all of a sudden. Tony hissed out his last words, “Do I make myself clear?”  
“Yes,” Flash’s dad said, nodding. Peter thinks he just realized who he had been talking to.  
Tony looked down at Flash, “What about you Eugene?”  
Flash nodded vigorously and both he and his dad quickly walked away. Tony straightened his shirt and put his sunglasses back on. Waving bye to May who had seen the whole thing, he motioned Peter to follow him with a quick, “Come on, we’re going to the science museum.”  
Peter followed him, completely in awe, out of the auditorium.

The New York Hall of Science was right in Queens and it took them only a couple minutes to reach it. Tony and Peter got into the museum for free and they just started walking. Tony and Peter didn’t really talk at all really, they just walked and looked around, and Tony had his arm around Peter’s shoulder. Peter remembered going here with Uncle Ben a long time ago, when it had all seemed so cool and high tech. Now it was like children’s play to him, but Peter enjoyed the innocence of it all. Tony spotted a food court and they got themselves some burgers, fries, and sodas before sitting down at a space themed table with spinny chairs.  
Peter ate in happy silence, before Tony cleared his throat.  
“My dad took me here when I was a kid. But as I grew up, we drifted apart. He wasn’t a good father, and we weren’t close at all. It was like he didn’t care. He was disappointed in me, and never, ever did he tell me he loved me, or even liked me. I didn’t have a good relationship with him. And yeah that happens, dads suck, or they don’t, or they leave or whatever, and there’s no need to be a wimp about it. But...I never want that to happen...with you...and me so I’m just trying to uh, break the cycle,” Tony said slowly, raising his glance to meet Peter’s bright eyes. Tony rubs his neck, “I’m not trying to replace your father, or your Uncle, I promise Peter,” Tony says sincerely, “It’s just that...I care about you kid, and I want to be there for you. And I want you to know you’re like a son to me. And I know I’ve slipped up before and said that, and I’ve meant it, but this time it’s for real, this time I’m saying it, it’s out there, ok kid?”  
Peter smiled shyly, his eyes gleaming, his heart bursting with happiness. He doesn’t think he’s ever been happier in his life. 

He remembers the first time Tony came in to recruit him, the way he winked at him one eye at a time and Peter stood there like a fool, stuttering and stammering. Then in his bedroom when Tony figured out he was Spiderman. He was the first person to know, Peter realized. He had webbed him to the door, Peter remembered, smiling a bit. Then when Tony had given him the new suit which was the most amazing thing he has ever seen. He remembers the airport fight when all Peter wanted to do was make Tony proud of him and impress him. Turns out he had done just that, even when he had been knocked unconscious from a big fall. Peter had felt bones break and ribs crack as he hit the pavement, but had awoke to his hero, concerned and worried, clutching Peter’s flailing fists and looking down into Peter’s eyes, his face half covered by the mask. Tony’s voice had been tinged with fear when he asked the unmoving, crumpled form of Peter, “Kid you alright?”  
Peter had insisted he wasn’t done even though he could barely see straight but Tony wouldn’t have it, and with a firm voice he had given him an ultimatum with a tone that showed he cared. Peter remembered the “hug” Tony had given him in the car and how they bickered back and forth about the Vulture after Tony saved him from the lake. And most importantly he remembered the confrontation he had with Tony on the top of the building, when Tony Stark himself had stepped out of the Iron Man suit. Peter had confessed he had just wanted to be like him and Tony shook his head and told him he wanted Peter to be better.  
The more recent signs stood out more, like how Tony had gotten him out of the rubble and taken him to the hospital, how they had spent the night watching Star Wars and eating ice cream. Peter remembered jumping in the way of the bullet and Tony and Peter yelling that they can’t lose one another. And the way that “the kid” had slowly turned into “my kid” whenever Tony talked about him to someone. Or today with Flash and the ceremony. The way Tony had walked onto that stage for Peter, defended Peter, cared and loved Peter, and was now confirming the thoughts he had wished were true the minute he met his idol.

Peter didn’t know what to say. A big grin was plastered on his face and he opened his mouth to speak but no words came out. Tony smiled back and Peter suddenly surged forward, crushing him in a hug.  
“I’ll always be here for you kid, ok?” Tony said, his voice breaking slightly, “Always.”

3 Weeks Later

Tony rubbed his eyes and yawned at 3 o’clock in the morning. The paperwork was insane, but since HYDRA had been causing trouble again and terrorist attacks were becoming more frequent, there had to be some changes. Tony had been alone at the Avengers compound, aside from Rhodey who came by once in a while when he wasn’t doing PT. Vision had checked in multiple times, just floating through the wall while Tony was hard at work. (He scared him half to death sometimes.) The rest had gone with Team Cap, and so there wasn’t much Tony could do to stop an attack halfway around the world. He wasn’t going to throw himself into battle with no backup, especially since he had Peter at home. He had to keep him safe as well. Peter didn’t really watch news, which Tony was glad about, and whenever an Avenger came to visit, Peter just never seemed to be around. So Tony didn’t say anything to him because he never needed to. He wanted Peter to be able to be a kid, not have to worry about adult drama and news and politics and media.  
As much as it hurt Tony to not do anything as long as the Accords were still in play, he knew he would be saving a lot more lives, once the government came to its senses. People were dying because the Avengers weren’t there to help them, and the mobs that had originally protested against them and scorned them were now realizing their mistake. Tony had gotten the call yesterday, a call for help, and with a little persuasion from Tony, the government publicly apologized, rebuked the accords, and decided to allow Team Cap to come out of the shadows and rejoin the Avengers. Within an hour of the release of the official statement, crime rates had dropped a significant amount. He wondered why. That was sarcasm.  
He hadn’t seen Steve in months, and although Tony was still angry with him, he had calmed down a bit and he hoped Cap had too. Their frenemy relationship was too strong to be broken. Besides, over the past couple weeks Tony had learned more about how HYDRA operated and more about the Winter Soldier program. HYDRA had done things that were unthinkable, and Bucky had just been a victim. Tony’s hatred for Barns slowly got less and less, and Tony beat himself up for what had happened that night. Steve had just been trying to help. He was still mad that Steve never told him about the recording, but there was no doubt that he had just been defending his friend, who, in his own way, was innocent. There would be tension, but Tony was confident they could overcome it. After another yawn, Tony decided against sleeping, and he went back to his ‘homework’.

The next day, Rhodey walked slowly into the labs, his leg brace clicking and whirling.  
“Stark?” He called. No answer. Rhodey sighed and sat down in the nearest chair, grabbing a screwdriver from the nearest table and fixing a loose part on the clasp by his knee.  
“Tony?” A cheerful voice called from down the hall. Rhodey looked up as it got louder.  
“ have to do homework and then I’ll help with the suits-”  
Rhodey gaze locked on the kid who froze when he walked in holding a granola bar in his hand. There was a backpack slung over his shoulder and he was in blue jeans and a white shirt covered by a dark blue sweater. Rhodey raised his eyebrows, “Who the heck are you?”  
The boy stuttered on his words, lowering the bar he was about to take a bite out of, “Nobody, I’m...I’m an intern here. Where’s Tony?”  
Tony huh? First name basis. Some intern.  
“Tony?” Rhodey asked suspiciously.  
The looked like he tried to hide a smile, “Mr. Rhodey right?”  
Rhodey was very surprised this kid knew who he was. Must have been from the news, “Yeah kid, what’s your name?”  
“Peter,” The kid said, walking over and sticking out his free hand, “Parker. Peter Parker.”  
Rhodes shook it hesitantly. The kid was young, probably a little over 15, with brown curls and soft eyes that matched his hair color. He seemed awkward but in a charming way. If he worked at Stark Industries he must be pretty smart Rhodey figured. Peter Parker. He knew that name.  
Peter. Pete. Mr. Parker.  
He had heard Tony mention it a couple times, even shout it, maybe? Rhodey racks his memory and for some reason he remembers it on a intercom.  
“Intern you say?” Rhodes asked, raising his eyebrow.  
“Uh, yep,” the kid shifted his weight back and forth, taking a bite out of the granola bar.  
“You sound familiar. Have I met you before?” Rhodey searched his memory again. Even the voice was in the back of his head. He had heard him before.  
The kid looked a little nervous, and his voice was an octave higher, “Nope.” Then the kid steadied himself and his voice was so convincing Rhodey almost believed him, “No, I don’t think so. I think I would remember meeting someone as important as you. Maybe you’ve seen me around here before though?”  
Rhodey narrowed his eyes. Then it hit him.  
Hey everyone…  
You know that part, when they’re on the snow planet, with the walkie thingies!  
I got him!  
Yes! That was awesome!  
No way. That’s him. It was that Spider dude! No, wait, Tony wouldn’t recruit a 15 year old...would he? Rhodey never did get to see the kid’s face, but he heard his voice, and that was it. Rhodes must be crazy, but he wanted to test out his hypothesis. He stood and walked across the room, “Yo Peter, can I see the suit?” Of course he meant Iron Man’s suit, if this kid really was an intern here. But he also knew that Spiderman had a suit.  
“Suit?” The kid tried to laugh it off, “Suit? What suit? I don’t have a suit. Look Mr. Rhodey, I’m just an intern-”  
“I never said you had a suit,” Rhodey grinned.  
“I didn’t either- wait hold on, what’s your deal man?” The kid knit his eyebrows and frowned.  
He’d just get to the point. “You’re Spider Man,” Rhodey sighed, “Aren’t you?”  
“No,” Peter shook his head unconvincingly.  
“Give it up kid, I won’t tell anyone,” Rhodey laughed.  
The kid sighed and talked through a mouthful of his remaining granola bar, “Well, crap. It’s been a long day usually I’m better at this.”  
Rhodes laughed again, “Hey it’s alright. You saved my life, and I never got to thank you.” Rhodey walked over to Peter and shook his hand again before looking him over, “15 huh?”  
Peter nodded and stood a little straighter, a smile sneaking up on him.  
“Dang,” Rhodes was impressed because he figured Spiderman was an old friend of Tony’s or something, not a highschooler. Rhodes vaguely remembered asking everyone through the coms how old he was after the boy in the red and blue onesie had made a star wars reference. Rhodes nodded though, “You’ve got guts kid. So I take it Tony’s let you keep the suit?”  
Peter nodded happily, “Oh yeah, but I have that one. We’re fixing up another one.Here, here, look, check this out-” Peter ran over to the nearest computer and typed in a few things and clicked buttons, his fingers flying across the keyboard.  
Rhodes whistled, “You’ve definitely been here before haven’t you?”  
Peter looked up, “Well yeah, a lot actually, every Friday and then I stay the weekend and then one or two weeknights. Tony made me a room. It’s next to Vision’s room I think, but he hasn’t been here like...ever.”  
Suddenly the wall opened up and a shiny red and blue Iron suit spun into view with a big spider on the chest.  
“Wow,” Rhodey breathed. It was a cool suit and Peter grinned happily.  
“I’ve got a parachute in it, there’s like 300 plus web shooter combinations, a heater, wings, these really cool spider legs, and a bunch more stuff.” The kid looked at it proudly, his hands fiddling, just like Tony’s when he’s nervous.  
Rhodey was slightly jealous. Tony never did any of that for his suit. He was gonna have a talk with his best friend.  
“It’s for when I join the Avengers,” Peter announced boldly, “Da-” Peter coughed, glancing at Rhodes confused expression before correcting himself, “Tony already offered me a position, but I could tell he was testing me, so I turned it down.”  
“Is that so?” Rhodes asked, slightly amused.  
“Yep,” Peter smiled, before typing in something else and the wall reappeared, closing off the suit again.  
Rhodes had to admit. He was impressed. And confused because he was 99% sure Peter had almost called Tony ‘dad’.  
Before he could say anything though, Peter put out his hand again, “Look Mr. Rhodey-”  
“Rhodes,” Rhodey smiled, shaking his hand.  
“Rhodes,” Peter corrected himself before heading for the door, “it was nice meeting you, I’ve got some homework to do,” he grinned, “I’ll uh, see you around then.”  
“See you Peter,” Rhodes smiled, still in awe that this kid had saved him from getting smashed into a plane at 50 mph.  
Rhodes nodded waved and Peter grinned before waving back and walking down the hall.  
Rhodey sat back in his chair and just chuckled to himself. Tony walked in 10 minutes later, and stopped when he saw Rhodes expression.  
The billionaire raised his eyebrows, “What?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed! Stay tuned for chapter 5- TEAM CAP!?!?!?!


	5. You said 'suit up'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's get into some action! Team Cap reunites with Tony, Peter gets to meet the Avengers, and soon after they get a lead on HYDRA. Tony mayyyyy have locked Peter in the Avengers compound to stop him from coming with them...but will that really stop him? That kid is a genius.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had to post! :) This story has been doing so well I'm so glad you all love it. I should hopefully be posting more frequently since I am very very so far ahead, let me know if you're itching for another chapter release at any point and I'll do 2 updates for u guys. Hope you all like this chapter! Enjoy, share, leave kudos, and tell me your thoughts in the comments!

Tony almost didn’t want to answer the door. FRIDAY had been the first to tell him, “Sir they’ve entered the compound.”  
Tony took a deep breath and walked downstairs. He had told Fury he didn’t want to be apart of his super secret boy band, but then he was. He had already met Romanoff, heard about Legolas, the angry green rage monster, the god of thunder, and he had done a good chunk of research on the human science experiment. He remembered throwing that insult in Steve’s face a couple times, but they had come to terms. They had fought together, in the Battle of New York and then Socovia. Tony considered Steve his best friend, even though they butted heads a lot. But that changed a bit when the whole thing happened with Bucky…  
Tony didn’t know how to feel right now. He half wanted to punch Rogers in his perfect teeth just for good measure, but his other half wanted to shake his hand and apologize. Thing was, Tony doesn’t really apologize. Just the hand shake then.  
He waited by the door for 3 minutes before the knock finally came. He waited a couple seconds, so to appear that he hadn’t been standing by the door, reached out his hand, gripped the handle...and opened it.  
“Security breach,” Tony shouted. It was a bad attempt at humor, but humor nonetheless, and it raised a smirk from the person in front of him which calmed Tony’s nerves a bit.  
Steve was the one who stood in the front. Bucky was on his left, Natasha on his right. Clint, Vision, Wanda, Sam and Scott were fanned out behind them.  
Tony looked Steve in the eyes, trying to read him. There was silence. Tony blinked, then cleared his throat and held out his hand, “Rogers.”  
Steve looked rather relieved as he clasped Tony’s hand firmly, “Stark.”  
“It’s good to see you Cap,” Tony said, and part of him meant it. Part of him.  
“You too Tony.” He could tell only part of Cap meant it to. Nevertheless, it was progress, and it was a good start. They nodded at each other and then Tony moved out of the way so Steve could step in. Bucky walked in slowly, watching Tony warrily. Tony gave him a curt nod, and Bucky obliged him with one back. Steve had been watching and Tony could tell he appreciated those gestures.  
“Agent Romanoff. Miss me?” Tony grinned.  
Nat smirked and gave him a hug, “Stark.”  
“Legolas,” Tony greeted Clint, who smiled.  
“Metal man,” came the jeer back.  
Tony finished greeting the rest of his fellow Avengers and he was very, very happy to see them all. Rhodes came in with his leg brace and gave hugs as well until Tony invited everyone upstairs into the main room. They all sat around a big table and when the talking died down, Tony had just opened his mouth to begin speaking when FRIDAY’s voice rang out and a screen of the outdoor camera showed up in the middle of the table.  
The A.I. sounded slightly amused, “Sir, it’s Peter.”  
Tony’s head shot up, and his heart skipped a beat. What was wrong?  
Oh. Nothing was wrong. Peter was right in front of him, a security camera feed showed him standing outside the door, home from school. It’s Friday, Tony realized. He forgot to mention to the kid that the team would be back. How it slipped his mind, Tony didn’t know. But it had. This was going to be fun.  
Peter looked up into the camera, “Tony I uh, kinda broke my key, don’t ask how because I have no idea how I did-” He held up a key that was snapped in half and rubbed his nose, looking confused, “Anyway, I can’t get in because, well I broke the key, I mean I could get in I could just climb up the wall and go into my room because I leave my window unlocked-” Peter bit his lip, “Shoot, I shouldn’t have told you that, don’t worry Mr. Stark,” Peter waved his hand and shook his head, “I don’t sneak out or anything. But last time I climbed up the building you got mad because I left web marks but John the window guy is actually really nice and he didn’t mind.” Peter looks up into the camera tapping his foot, “Tony can you unlock the door please? Please? I swear if it’s like last time when you don’t open the door and you’re videotaping me to rub in my face or something-”  
Tony grinned, laughing and hit a button. The door opened and Peter stopped talking. He smiled and grabbed the handle.  
“Be right up.”  
Tony swiped away the video.  
Everyone was staring at him. Rhodey was the only one who understood and he had a big smirk on his face, but he was hiding it with a hand, trying not to laugh.  
Steve was looking at him in shock and he was the one who broke the silence, “Uh, Tony?”  
“Yeah?” Tony looked up.  
“Who’s that?”  
“That’s Peter. My kid,” Tony said happily.  
“Your son?” Natasha asked, just as shocked.  
“It’s a long story,” Rhodes said from across the table.  
“If he’s your son why did he call you ‘Mr. Stark and Tony’?” Clint asked.  
On cue, someone comes in.  
“I need help with my sci-” Peter came swinging into the room with a web. He dropped the Chemistry book he had and his eyes widened. Well, at least Tony didn’t have to explain about Peter being Spiderman.  
Peter started stuttering, his natural charm, “Holy- oh my gosh, Tony what the heck, you didn’t tell me that- woah, wow, it’s uh, everybody, hi, hi, I’m Peter, Peter...Parker,” he stuttered, picking up his book and setting it on the counter before crossing his arms awkwardly and shifting his position, a small grin of awe on his face as he looked around at the Avengers.

Stark watched as everyone stared at him, then at Tony, then back at him.  
Peter’s gaze then flicked to Steve and he straightened and gave a salute like he did at the airport and then lowered his hand as if he thought it was stupid of him, “Cap. Steve. Mr. Rogers. S-sorry about your shield. Wait shoot- well I already- who cares. Hi.”  
“No hard feelings kid. I knew you got heart,” Steve smiled, still shocked that this kid was Spiderman.  
“Well um, I’ll go, I have homework but I’ll- it- it was very nice to meet everyone, I didn’t mean to interrupt- I’ll go- uh, yeah, um, bye.” Peter waved and walked out, giving Tony one last look of awe before rounding the corner.  
Everyone looked at Tony who sighed.  
“You recruited a kid?” Steve said, rather angry at him right now, “You brought him to the airport?”  
“You’re one to talk Rogers. You dropped a whole freight car on him. Who was more irresponsible?” Tony raised his eyebrows.  
Steve’s eyes flashed, but then his glare receded and he put up his hands in surrender.  
“And that kid whipped your butt and Sam’s butt and Bucky’s butt and Scott’s butt,” Tony reminded him, “Just saying.”  
Steve nodded, “So he did,” Steve nodded, again, rubbing his chin and looking at the place where Peter had left, “So he did.”

“Hey kid you almost done?”  
Peter turns in his chair. He could barely concentrate on his homework after all that had happened in the past hour but he smiled, “Hey Rhodes, yeah just about.”  
“Cool,” Rhodey turns to walk away but Peter speaks up.  
“Mr. Rhodey can I ask you a question?”  
“Sure Peter,” Rhodey leaned against the door.  
“Why didn’t Tony tell me that they were all coming?” Peter asked.  
Rhodey pursed his lips, “He and Cap fell out hard. The Avengers broke up. It was much worse than just an airport scuffle.”  
Peter nodded, “Broke up like boy band broke up? 1 direction kind of break up?”  
“Yeah,” Rhodey suppressed a smile, “He didn’t want to tell you because, well, you didn’t need to know. You’ve got school, and Spiderman, and well, life to worry about. Be a teenager, leave the adult problems to us. Besides, Tony’s been doing a lot of work and really stressed out, but he’s been holding it together well. He’s been happier lately and not letting all that get to him, working really hard in mornings so he can clear his evenings. Never told me why but now it makes sense. It’s you Peter. I don’t think he wanted you to get sucked into all of this. You shouldn’t be worried about those kind of things. You’re only 15. And,” Rhodes had a look of admiration on his face, “He cares for you kid.”  
Peter grins, “I know. Thanks Rhodes. I’ll be right down.”

Peter slides down the railing and jumps off, jogging to a stop in the kitchen. Nat and Clint are arguing over how many minutes to heat something up on the stove. It gets a little intense, with both of them attempting to put the other in a headlock so Peter scoots another direction. Wanda and Vision are talking and Peter has to smile. Scott’s eating an orange at the table, facetiming someone on his phone. It sounds like a little girl and when he walks by he can tell it’s his daughter. Peter smiles and nods at him and Scott winks back. Tony, Steve, and Bucky are out on the balcony and Peter slowly walks forward to hear what they’re saying. But it seems the conversation is over and Tony looks clearly relieved and calmer. He even shakes hands with Bucky and Steve before he and Steve go and continue to walk the long balcony. The Winter Soldier steps inside and Peter moves toward him cautiously, “What’s your arm made out of?”  
“Metal,” Bucky says, and Peter was disappointed his answer was so simple. He couldn’t blame the guy though, he didn’t remember half of his life so Peter figured he missed some lessons on socializing.  
“Sorry about webbing you to the floor,” Peter speaks shyly.  
“It’s alright kid. Didn’t Sam drop you out a window?” Bucky raises an eyebrow.  
Peter opens his mouth to retort, then decides not to. He starts to walk away but Bucky puts out his normal hand, “Joking kid.”  
Peter smiles and shakes his hand before he leaves to go show Nat where the utensils are. Tony comes back in and puts an arm around Peter.  
“Tony what’s for dinner?” Peter asks and a lot of people perk up because they too are wondering.  
Tony smirks, “Shawarma.”  
Natasha, Clint, Steve, and Tony burst out laughing. Everyone else looks just as confused with Peter.  
“Are you serious?” Steve chuckles.  
Tony grins really wide, “Just for you Rogers.”  
“That’s great,” Steve laughs. Tony claps him on the back. Peter smiles at that. He’s glad they aren’t enemies anymore. He liked the Avengers better when they were one big group.  
Peter takes his spot next to Tony at the dinner table and then begins to tell him about the stuff that he did in science at school. He figured the other Avengers were making conversations of their own, but he had Tony had been in their little world that they were used to, that he didn’t notice everyone had stopped talking. Turns out, everyone was quiet, listening to Peter and watching him talk to Tony. They saw a bond they hadn’t seen before.  
Peter trailed off when he finally realized all was quiet, but a few prompts from around the table got him talking again. It turned out to be a great night. Rhodes dared Peter to web Sam’s foot to the chair and that went well. Even though there were a bunch of people in the room, Tony always made sure to pay attention to him and make sure he was doing ok. The Avengers took to him well, and Peter was happy, filled with joy at the realization that not only had he made some good friends with famous superheroes but that he got to hang out with Avengers.  
“I’m going to be on the team one day,” Peter announced proudly to Wanda.  
“Oh really?” She asked, smiling.  
“Yeah,” Peter grinned back, “I’m working on my suit for when I do join. It’s really cool. Mr. Stark made it,”  
“Ain't he something?” Tony smiled proudly, settling down onto the couch next to Peter.  
Peter blushed, grinning.  
“He is,” Wanda nodded, quite impressed. It wasn’t like they already weren’t; they had all seen Peter snatch Captain America’s shield. They just hadn’t realized it was 15 year old kid who had done it.  
That night was probably one of the best nights he had had in a very long time. And Peter was sad when it ended. 

Steve watched Tony get up with the kid Peter around midnight. Peter had a test the next day and he needed help with a science question. Tony walked off with his exuberant kid. Steve sat down at a bar stool and had a sip of water. Natasha slid into the seat next to him. Tony had his arm around Peter who was practically jumping with excitement and waving his arms around in weird hand motions as he gushed to Stark. Tony was laughing with a big smile on his face and they rounded the corner, going out of sight. Natasha blinked, raised her eyebrows and sighed, shaking her head.  
“Is he actually his…I mean because it seems like he is...” Steve trailed off.  
“I don’t even know Steve,” Natasha laughed, “I don’t even know.”

1 Week Later

Peter was at the dinner table, doing his history homework with the help of Steve, who had been there for most of it, when Tony came running in, “Suit up! Now!”  
“What did you do?” Steve grumbled.  
“Me? I didn’t do anything!” Tony said, “We’ve got a guy with another glowstick of destiny except this time it’s guns. Lots and lots of guns.”  
“What is it?” Steve asked, already standing.  
“It’s a lead, direct line to HYDRA,” Tony locked eyes with Cap and pursed his lips, “Steve, if we can stop them here...we stop them period,” Tony said, rushing out. Steve nodded and went down the opposite hall where his room was to get his suit. Peter scrambled to his feet and sprinted after Tony.  
Tony suddenly stopped and turned around and Peter almost ran into him.  
“Where the heck do you think you’re going kid?” Tony asked.  
Peter looked at him, “You said suit up!”  
“No, Pete, you’re not going. I can’t have you going,” Tony shook his head.  
“What do you mean I’m not going? Of course I’m going!” Peter exclaimed.  
“No, you’re not. Stay here. Peter do you hear me? Stay here,” Tony said firmly.  
“Mr. Stark wait,” Peter protested, “Tony! Hey, sometimes you’ve got to run before you walk,” Peter said.  
“That’s my line! Don’t use my line kid,” Tony said.  
Peter ran after him but then the Iron Man suit enclosed Tony from all sides and he shot down the hall and through his personal exit.  
“Dad!” Peter yelled angrily. The door closed.  
Peter mumbled under his breath, “That’s just great. Karen, patch through to Tony please.”  
“Connecting. Hold on.”  
“What?” Tony’s voice rang out in Peter’s ear piece, then Tony sighed apologetically, “I’m sorry kid. You just can’t come this time.”  
“I’m dying,” Peter grumbled, “I’ve fallen and broken all my bones and I’m dying and you need to come back,” Peter announces weakly, not really knowing where he’s going with that.  
Tony laughs, “Good try kid.”  
“I’m throwing up everywhere,” Peter says, frustrated.  
“That’s nice,” Tony says, clearly not buying it, “Clean it up.”  
“You forgot something,” Peter said desperately.  
“Mhm? Did I now? What did I forget?” Tony asked.  
Peter sighed, before he narrowed his eyes, “Me. You forgot me.” He spoke angrily, walking furiously down the hallway and checking to see who had went with Tony, “You can’t just leave me here! You need me!”  
Everyone had left. Except Bucky, who had gone to meet with T’challa.  
Tony sighed on the line, “Yeah! I need you to stay put! Steve, I’m sending coordinates. Rhodey and Sam, you guys are my eyes, tell me what you see!” Tony seemed to remember that Peter was on the line, “Look Peter, it’s just too dangerous. This isn’t just an everyday crime ok kid?”  
“But I’ve been training with you for months!” Peter complained, “I’ve had my share of the ground, I’m ready for the big leagues!”  
“No, you’re not. This is too big,” Tony said.  
“Why won’t you let me do this?” Peter complains.  
“Why? There’s no why! It’s because I said so! End of story! No buts, no ands, or any other conjunction,” Tony says firmly.  
“Tony!” Peter shouted.  
“Peter, I can’t have you diving head first into something like this.”  
“But-” Peter protested.  
“No kid. FRIDAY, put the compound on lockdown.”  
“You’re locking me in?” Peter choked.  
“You won’t stay if I asked you too!” Tony shot back, “And you know I’m right. Wanda, civilians.”  
Peter shook his head, running to the doors that were already locked from the outside, “Wait, Mr. Stark wait...Tony come on, no! I can help! I can help you!”  
“I know you can kiddo,” Tony seemed mildly guilty which was somewhat comforting, “Just not this time. End call.”  
“Wait no no no! Da-” Peter yelled to an empty hallway.  
“Mr. Stark is no longer connected,” FRIDAY’s calm voice rang out.  
“Fine then,” Peter cracked his knuckles and went downstairs into the lab. “FRIDAY cancel lockdown,” he commanded hopefully.  
“I’m sorry Peter but you don’t have the authority.”  
Peter slammed his hand down on the table before looking up, “Welp, I’m sorry about this FRIDAY.”  
“I don’t understand Mr. Parker.”  
Peter ran to his room, slipped on his suit and grabbed his laptop before sprinting back to the lab. Peter sat in the rolling chair and dug through drawers to get some wires and some other tech before bringing his chair over to the main power box on the wall.  
“Karen?’ Peter asked.  
“Yes Peter?”  
Peter took a breath, “We’re hacking Friday.”

Tony blasted another agent before bouncing his beam off of Cap’s black arm shield Tony had grabbed from the ship to take out 2 more. It wasn’t the same as his usual flashy, star spangled banner, big red and blue shield though. He made a mental note to give Rogers his shield back. He was wrong before, Steve did deserve it.  
Sam and Rhodey flew above them, taking out the 3 approaching men.  
“You’ve got 5 more to your right!” Sam warned. Wanda and Vision handled them, and red and yellow streams lit up Tony’s gaze. An arrow came from somewhere to his left and exploded the car that had 3 snipers behind it. Tony saluted in the general direction of where Clint was hiding; those snipers had been annoying. Natasha had dropped into the truck a while ago and based on the amount of crashes and groans that came, he guessed she had taken care of everyone inside. No one really knew where Scott was, but when people just fell randomly or got punched in the face by nothing, it was either a really hard gust of wind, or Ant Man himself.  
Time slowed, but Tony was rather calm. It seemed like they were winning. They were winning. That was, until a loud voice commanded all of them to, “STOP!”  
Tony pointed a glowing hand, Vision’s stone blazed, red magic danced around Wanda’s palm, Scott became real size, Sam and Rhodey both had their guns pointed, Cap had readied his small shield, Natasha (who had come out of the truck) raised a gun she had snatched from an enemy, and Clint, Tony couldn’t see. But he was sure he had an arrow pointed at the man who was standing on top of the building, holding what looked like a detonator in his hand.  
“Stop or everyone for a mile is dead.”  
“Rumlow,” Steve spat.  
They obviously had a history, and Tony noticed a couple of his teammates a little uneasy and angered, Wanda, Sam, and Natasha too. Tony recognized him from a filed report. If Tony remembered correctly, he was supposed to be dead.  
Rumlow smiled through the mask he had on, a weird, black, Bane-looking thing, “Hey Captain. I’ll add blown up by an explosion to my list of things I’ve survived.”  
“Yeah well I can tell! You look like crap,” Scott shouted.  
The man ignored him and turned his gaze with a smirk, “Tony Stark. I don’t believe we’ve met. Do you want to have your team ripped apart again? It will happen if I push this button,” Rumlow said, “People dead because you didn’t do all you could.”  
“Just put the device down, and we’ll talk about this,” Tony said, putting a hand out.  
“Not gonna happen Stark. Besides, you’re kinda busy,” Rumlow looked over their heads and everyone turned, seeing wave after wave of armed HYDRA operatives come through the gate. And Rumlow just sat on the edge of the building to watch. 

 

Peter groaned slumping in his chair, “Why isn’t it working?”  
“Patience Peter,” Karen supplied, “What else is there to do?”  
“I disagree strongly with this,” FRIDAY said.  
“Yeah well, Tony’s out there and I can help,” Peter grumbled, typing furiously into his computer.  
“Running scan, testing variables,” Karen announced.  
Peter crossed his fingers and waited.  
“Override complete and successful. You have 150 seconds until reboot initiates.”  
Peter grinned and jumped up, pumping his fists, “Yes!” He yanked his mask over his face and swung out of the lab. He dropped to the ground as he passed the storage room, running a few feet before he skittered to a halt. It was open, he realized, back peddling and opening the door a little. Tony never left it open. Which means Peter never really got to see inside.  
“Karen how much time?”  
“Just over two minutes Peter.”  
He had enough time. Peter walked in and looked around. It was all new inventions. He saw some Spiderman related stuff which was really cool, a weird looking belt, and- Woah.  
A second later, Peter was swinging himself down the stairway and running out the door. In his hand was something Cap would probably want. 

Tony looked up to see Rumlow gone, taken refuge inside the building. Coward. As for his team, they were slowly making progress, and they had proceeded to bring the fight into the building. Hopefully they could kill 2 birds with one stone.  
Tony felt responsible for this. HYDRA headquarters was just down the street and Tony hadn’t known about it. He should have done background checks on every warehouse that ‘wasn’t being used’.  
As soon as the whole team was inside, Cap punched the door lock and the door closed shut and locked. That would delay some of the agents. Tony had already called police, and S.H.I.E.L.D but he knew it would be a while before they got in to help. He and the rest of the team cleared the downstairs before they ran for the steps. Wanda and Rhodey stayed to guard the stairwell. The rest made their way upstairs to the next level. They expected a fight. Instead they got nothing. And empty room.  
“Split up,” Steve said into the coms, “Sam, scout from the roof, Rhodey you’re surroundings. Wanda you’ve got starwell. I’ll get this level and level 5 and 6. Clint and Nat you guys check levels 3 and 4.”  
“I’ve got basement,” Tony said.  
“This thing’s got a basement?” Steve asked.  
“It’s got something, I picked up a heat signature in the labs, so I’m gonna go check it out,” Tony grumbled, his mask flapping back over his face, “Shoot to kill. He’s not getting away this time. He’s somewhere in this building. We find him, we kill him. Ask questions later,” Tony said grimly, as the Avengers split up.  
Tony flew down the steps and took a right past Wanda, into the labs. He wandered further in, his hand stretched out and gleaming as a flashlight and a warning.  
“FRIDAY, give me a scan,” he said.  
“Sure thing.” His display lit up in a blueprint form of the room.  
“There seems to be some sort of opening to your left sir. Beams missing.”  
Tony turned and saw FRIDAY was right. He pushed against the sides, “Please be a secret door, please be a secret door-” The wall caved in, the bricks peeling back, revealing a hallway.  
“Yay,” Tony said happily. He walked slowly into the hallway, his metal boots making a little too much sound for his liking. He ejected himself from the suit and went on foot, the suit trailing an inch of the ground behind him.  
Then the hallway narrowed and Tony shifted his position, shuffling sideways through the dark. It finally opened up into a circular room and Tony put a hand up to his ear, “Guys I’ve found something. I need someone on my position now. Guys? Steve? Does anyone copy?”  
“Connection is lost. I’m working on getting it back,” FRIDAY said.  
Tony looked around in horror. Table after table, belt after belt, rack after rack of weapons, some finished, some started from scratch, but all very, very dangerous.  
“Oh God,” he said, “FRIDAY does FBI know about this? CIA? Government?”  
“I’ve checked all secure databases and I’m afraid not sir. This is all under the radar.”  
Tony rubbed his hand over his hair, blinking. These were weapons of mass destruction. He walked over to the nearest table and ran his hand over one of the pieces. He was a mechanic and he knew what all these parts were. These people knew how to make serious weapons. Who knows who else they trained, or gave these types of weapons too.  
“FRIDAY alert police that-”  
Just then the door Tony had come through slammed shut. A huge blast came from the corner and hit Tony’s suit, smashing it against the wall. Tony jumped, yelping, before he tucked and rolled to take cover behind a table. He waited and braced, but no more shots came. A cold feeling spread through Tony’s chest as he peaked out from behind his cover and slowly stood, searching for the enemy in the shadows that spoke in a low voice, “Tony Stark. I’ll enjoy this.”


	6. Close Call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fight with HYDRA continues!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thinking about updating once every day for a while (if i can). What do you all think?  
> Enjoy! Tell me what you think in the comments :)

Peter swung as fast as he could. The closer he got, the better signal he got, and for the past 2 minutes, Peter had been hearing everything that the team had been saying, they just didn’t know it. Peter found the building and started climbing up the side. The windows were glass so Peter knew where everyone was fighting. Nat and Clint were fine on their section. He waved as he climbed up the windows. Nat took one look and went back to concentrating. Clint, however, waved back before Nat smacked him across the chest and blocked a man’s gun that was pointed at his head. Clint and Nat started arguing while fighting and Peter quickly climbed up a floor so he didn’t get them in any more trouble. Steve was fighting 4 HYDRA operatives that weren’t just the typical black suits with guns. They had high tech weapons and Cap wasn’t used to fighting without his big shield. Hopefully Peter could fix that. Gleefully, Peter shot a web a little higher and kicked off the building, swinging backward to gain momentum like he had done when he broke into the Washington Monument. Similarly, he smashed through the window, rolling and kicking a guy in the chest before he threw the shield at Steve yelling, “Cap!”  
Steve caught it almost out of habit, before habit turned into surprise. There was a look of shock on his face before it turned to pride and happiness. He gleefully threw it, bouncing it off a guy’s chest, ripping off his old shields Tony had made him. The shield came back rather low and Steve stopped it with his foot before flipping it up to catch it.   
He looked in awe at Peter, “Kid what are you doing here?”  
“You’re welcome!” Peter called, webbing a guy to the far wall without even looking just to show off, before climbing back out the window.   
“Thanks!” Steve called after him. Peter grinned through his mask.  
“Karen, remaining status?” He asked.  
“Wanda is at stairwell. Rhodey’s on surrounding, he’ll come into view in precisely 23 seconds. Sam is on roof with 7 individuals, heavily armed.”  
“Let’s pay him a visit,” Peter said, narrowing his eyes and shooting a web as high as he could up the building and launching himself a couple stories. Just as Karan predicted, Rhodey came into view around the edge of the building and Peter waved as he climbed.  
Rhodey leveled his gun, saw who he was pointing at, shook his head and then yelled into the comms, “Peter! Tony said to stay home!”  
“I don’t listen!” Peter responded, before continuing his climb up the wall. He peered over the side and shot a web at one of the man’s feet, knocking him to the floor. Peter did a flip onto the roof and rolled forward, kicking a guy in the face and knocking the other agent out with a swift punch.  
“Thanks Spiderling,” Sam grinned, shooting the other from behind his cool Falcon wing shield. Peter had first not liked it because it reminded him too much of the Vultures wings, which still gave him nightmares once in a while, but now he had to admit, they were pretty awesome.   
“Yep,” Peter said, shooting a web grenade at the legs of one operative, sending him face down in the dirt. Sam could take care of the rest and Peter jumped from the top of the building, “See ya!”   
He let out a happy yell, very proud of himself for doing so well in so little time. He grinned beneath the mask, somersaulting in free fall before catching the side of the building and crashing through the second to bottom level. He rolled and got to his feet with ease, jogging down the last staircase where Wanda was, her palms red. She turned and saw him and raised an eyebrow, a smirk on her face. She didn’t ask him what he was doing here or tell him to go home, which he appreciated. It almost seemed like she respected his decision.   
“How are they doing?” She asked, with a slight hint of an accent.  
Peter shrugged, “Not bad. You?”  
Just as he said that, a man came through the side from the other room and Wanda flicked her finger forward. Before he could even raise his gun he was thrown backward through the wall.   
“Not bad,” she said, smiling slightly.  
Peter nodded. Who else, who else? Tony! Duh, where was Tony?  
“Hey Wanda, where’s Tony?”  
“Basement,” she pointed, “He went into the labs.”  
“Thanks,” Peter swung toward the labs. He walked in and looked around. It was cold and dark, and there was dust on everything. HYDRA must have been really stupid and not made anything. Or they made something and they’re trying to hide it. Peter looks towards the corner and sees the caved in wall.   
“Secret door. Awesome,” Peter whispers. He walks forward cautiously, “Karen can you track Tony?”  
“No, for some reason I can’t. I can’t track anything from here forward. There’s an odd containment layer that hinders all of my sensors, just in a small perimeter. It starts 6 feet in front of you.”  
Peter frowns and stops moving, “Odd. Why would someone do that?”  
“To hide weaponry?” Karen suggests.  
Peter nods, “Maybe. But if you can’t track Tony anywhere else, he’s got to be in there.” He touches the wall and it practically crumbles beneath his fingers, “Alright let’s go.”  
“Peter I don’t suggest this. You can’t track or communicate with anyone, and that also means the team won’t be able to track you either. You’ll be offline.”  
“Yeah but Karen, Tony’s in there, I have to make sure he’s ok,” Peter insisted. He continued down the dark hallway.

Tony froze, looking in the direction of the voice. Rumlow stepped out of the shadows. He was wearing a heavy metal-like suit, worn from battle, which meant he could probably use it rather well. It was similar to Tony’s Iron Man suit except it was built just for hand to hand combat.  
“I knew you’d come Stark. I knew the team would and so I planned all of this, just so I could get you here alone. To talk.”  
“I’m honored don’t get me wrong, but why me?” Tony asked suspiciously. He gulped back dread as he saw his suit in a sparking heap in the corner.   
“Because Stark, you’ve got the money. I have a proposition to make,” Rumlow announced, walking forward.   
“Sorry, I don’t bargain with terrorists-” Tony started to say when Rumlow brought back his metal fist and lunged forward before he could even flinch. The metal hit Tony it the side, sending him flying. He crashed into the floor with a groan, holding his side that was in screaming pain. A rib must have cracked from that blow.  
Rumlow walked toward him and Tony scooted for his suit, trying to fix it.   
“I can send this building crumbling to the ground in less than a second, all with a push of this button.” Rumlow held up the detonator, “The shock wave decimates everything within a mile. Oh and the best part is that we’ll be safe here. So you’ll get to watch the world crumble around you.”  
Tony looked back from his tinkering and suddenly a metal hand grabbed his chin, forcing him up against the wall. Tony gripped the hand that held him firmly, grinding him against the harsh stone.   
“Tony Stark. The billionaire,” Rumlow spat.  
“Yeah well, if there’s one thing you should know, we geniuses always like to cover our butts-” Tony kept his eyes trained forward but stretched with his index finger, ejecting the leg into Rumlow who was thrown backward, caught off guard.   
“Oh wow, I’m sorry. These things malfunction ya know? Bet that didn’t feel too good, did it?” Tony rubbed his jaw and pushed a button on his wrist, holding out his hand. Tony’s suit whired to life and the suit limply and slowly enclosed around him, starting with his hand. Well, half of his suit. His leg armor had been shot off, so Tony was balancing on one foot thruster once he got off of his ground, his chest cracked and melted from that blast and he only had one arm encased in the metal. His display was down and the mask was half broken, revealing half of his face. Rumlow rose from the rubble and Tony blasted him. Rumlow stumbled back from a shot that should have blown him through the wall. He cracked his neck and glared at Tony who froze.  
“I’m sorry,” Tony said, not really meaning it, before he shot forward, determined to go down fighting. He dodged the first swipe and fired, but only having one foot thruster made him off balance. It was an indirect hit but it was enough to catch Rumlow’s shoulder and shove him sideways. Tony brought his metal fist back and drove it forward.   
Rumlow caught the fist. Tony pulled back, but he was just being pulled forward by the grinning maniac.   
“FRIDAY all power to the rear thrusters-” Tony choked out before his helmet was ripped clean off by a metal hand. Tony gasped, blinking and trying to pull away, his foot thruster spluttering. The fist came faster than Tony could block and hit him square in the face, probably breaking his nose. Tony went flying, well...falling, his thruster giving out as it got smacked against a table wrong. He rolled, only stopping when he slammed into the wall. Tony coughed, groaning, wiping blood from his mouth and trying to prop himself up. He brought up his hand in one last attempt to fire at Rumlow who was closing in, but then he felt his hand get turned before he could, and when the blast finally hit, Tony felt the suit shut down and awful pain erupt in his chest. Tony gasped in pain and looked down, seeing a searing arc reactor, it’s light dimming out in the center of his chest, his hand pressed against it by Rumlow. Tony went limp, coughing against the wall.  
“I’m disappointed Stark. I expected more from you,” Rumlow said, backing toward a table and leaning against it, crossing his arms.   
“Yeah well I fight as Iron Man, not Tony Stark and you trashed my suit,” Tony grumbled. He had called for another one the minute the old one got smashed, but Tony never knew if the signal sent. Maybe FRIDAY had figured out a way to hack through the jamming systems. He figured not because there wasn’t a long period of time between getting smashed to the wall, fighting for a few seconds, desperately trying to keep Tony alive, and then getting shut down with the blast to her core.  
“True.” Rumlow moved forward, “Anyway, I think now it’s time to talk business. Just hold on, one second-” His leg shot out, catching Tony in the head, and Tony muttered something Cap would not approve of under his breath, before sinking to the floor unconscious.

“Roof clear,” Sam reported. “Rhodes is with me.”   
“Levels 3 & 4 clear,” Clint radioed, “Nat is fine.”  
Steve nodded before putting a hand to his ear, “Level 2 clear. Wanda how’s it looking?”  
Her voice rang out next, “Fine down here. Police have made a barrier and have been informed of the situation. I think SHIELD is here as well.”  
“Scott?” Steve asked.  
“Right here Cap.” That voice didn’t come from his ear and Scott became real size right in front of him. That explained why people were falling even though Cap hadn’t punched them.  
“Scott’s with me,” Steve said. “Anyone know where Peter is? And Tony…” Steve spoke clearly through the comm, nervous that he hadn’t heard from his friend, “Where’s Stark?”  
Wanda was the one who answered, “Peter followed Stark into the labs. They haven’t come back yet.”  
“Everyone on Wanda’s position. We’ll make sure the kid and Stark are ok and then we’ll let SHIELD do their job.”   
Steve and Scott ran for the steps to meet with the rest of the team.

“Do you think they’re ok Cap?” Scott said nervously. Cassie, his daughter, had a favorite superhero and it wasn’t Ant-Man. She preferred Spiderman so in that sense, Scott had become close with Peter. As close as you can get in a couple weeks. He still felt bad about smacking Peter to the ground during the airport battle. It had been a complete accident, but Scott had found out that Peter had broken some ribs, a couple bones, and had gotten a concussion. Out of all the Avengers, aside from Steve, he felt the guiltiest that he had fought a 15 year old kid, even if Peter was Spiderman. Yet Peter had forgiven him without a thought.   
Scott really hoped the kid was ok. He knew what it was like to have a child, and Peter was only about 6 years older than Cassie. Scott couldn’t help but be worried, even though he knew Peter could take care of himself.  
Steve hesitated, then nodded, “Tony would never let anything happen to Peter. And Peter wouldn’t let anything happen to Tony. They’ll be ok.”   
He and Steve had made it down the first set of steps when Steve suddenly turned to ask him a question that caught Scott a little off guard.  
“Are they actually, I mean is Peter actually his-” Steve fumbled with his words.  
“His son?” Scott laughed, “Heck if I know Steve. You know the guy better than I do, what do you think?”  
“I don’t know,” Steve said, chuckling back, “I honestly don’t know.”  
Scott shook his head as they hurried down the steps to go find their friends. Scott hoped Steve was right about them being ok. 

Peter wandered down the hallway before he ran into something. He stepped back, rubbing his face and looking at the wall he had just smacked into. Thanks Spider senses.   
“Hey Karen, does this go any further?”  
His A.I. seemed a little confused, “It seems to be something that has been recently closed off. I’m sensing two heat signatures 100 m ahead of you.”  
“There’s got to be another way inside. Droney, search the building for any small openings I can fit through. We’ve got to help Tony.”  
The little spider on his chest removed itself and scanned the dark hallway he was in before it froze at a spot above him.   
“There seems to be a weak section here. Maybe you could break through and get to the vent?” Karen suggested.  
“Good enough,” Peter shrugs, jumping and sticking to the ceiling on all fours and kicking the red section in his display with his foot. After 4 kicks it crumbles away and Peter swings to the side, letting the bits of ceiling crash down on the floor, revealing a vent. Using his strength, Peter pries it off and lets that to drop to the floor before he crawls into the small vent.   
“Here goes nothing,” Peter says before he starts crawling. A minute later he hears voices and comes to a spot where there’s another gated vent, revealing the room he had been trying to get into.   
“Karen is this where it cuts out?” Peter asks.  
His A.I. responds, “Yes Peter.”  
“Contact team, give them my position and send out a distress signal,” Peter whispers.  
There are noises within his mask and then Karen reports, “Done.”  
Peter nods, “Alright, let’s go.” He goes a little more forward until he’s directly over the vent. Peter looks down. He can hear the voices a lot clearer now.   
“You’re not going to get the money.”   
Tony! That was Tony! Peter scans the dark room, trying to find him. When he finally does, Peter has a hard time not activating Instant Kill when the other guy talks.   
“Cocky renegade in a suit of armor. Trash the suit, and what’s left?”  
“Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist,” Tony said calmly.  
“Is everything a joke to you Stark?” the man snarls.  
“Funny things are-” Tony starts to say before the man yells, making Peter jump.  
“Transfer the money!”  
“Maybe you didn’t hear me the first 5 times. No,” Tony said stubbornly.  
“There are other ways to persuade if you don’t give it to me now. You’ll be reeling from the shock of your friends deaths, what about Pepper? Or that intern, Peter, is it? Yeah, I have my sources.”  
Tony, whose hands are cuffed to two tables, glares and grits his teeth, “Don’t touch either of them.”  
Peter’s chest heats in anger and he bites his lip so hard he tastes blood. Tony’s got a bloodied nose and a cut on his cheek. His lip is bleeding and there’s a fresh bruise on his jaw and above his eyebrow. His usually neat hair is plastered to his face, covering up a little dried blood. His wrists are a little bloody from the cuffs and there are multiple cuts bleeding through his navy shirt. His gaze is fierce but Peter knows he’s exhausted and based off of the conversation Peter had picked up on, he knew he was scared too.   
Peter silently removes the vent and starts crawling across the dark ceiling, hidden from view by the shadows. He sees bits and pieces of Tony’s suit scattered across the floor and he quickly webs the damaged Iron Man hand that’s lying below him.  
The man in a weird, metal-armored suit with iron knuckles finally turns at the slight sound, but finds nothing but a dark room. Tony doesn’t see anything either, which is kind of good. Peter didn’t want to give away his position, even for Tony. He had one shot and he wasn’t about to screw it up.  
“I have no problem blowing up the building, in fact, I may just do it either way, to cover up my evidence, but it’s your choice to decide if you’re friends are still in the building or not. If you don’t care then I’ll just-”  
“No, wait!” Tony said, growing pale.  
“Then transfer the money,” the man demands in a rough voice.   
“Well I’m kind of broke so,” Tony shrugs. That comment earns him a punch and Peter flinches, willing himself to work faster. His heart hurts as Tony coughs and shakes his head like he’s trying to get his bearings. Peter finally finishes reassembling the parts to the hand and he tosses it aside, shooting a web to catch it so it can’t make noise. Neither of them notice.   
“Ok then, Avengers compound. Everyone’s here so you would just lose all of your stuff. Everyone except, oh dear, did you leave Peter at home?”  
Tony’s face goes slack and he yanks his hands, trying to slip them through the cuffs, “No, wait, listen to me-”  
“Oh that’s perfect. Money or not I’m doing it.” The man goes to his panel on his arm and starts pushing buttons.   
Tony is hysterical and the two tables he’s cuffed to jerk across the floor as he shouts, “No! He’s just a kid! Please!”  
“Maybe you’ll learn to bargain with terrorists Mr. Stark,” the man says, raising his hand to bring his finger down on a button on his watch.  
“No! Wait! Please, that’s my son-“ Tony yells, “Not Peter-not Pete- I’ll kill you, you hear me? You lay a finger on that kid and I will…” Tony clenches his teeth, shaking in anger, “I will kill you.”  
Peter had been making his way across the room, crawling upside down until he was right above them. His heart broke when he saw Tony’s face and he wished he had some sort of mute button so he didn’t have to hear Tony’s pleads as the man taunts him.   
“Taser web,” Peter hisses, shooting it at the panel. It makes a direct hit and Peter watches in satisfaction as it smokes and sparks, rendering the device useless before the button can be pushed. The man jumps, crying out in pain as he is shocked along with his suit. Peter webs a spot 6 feet from where he was and swings there quickly, out of sight.   
The man looks up, yelling in anger, before directing that rage at Tony who shrinks back, only to be held in place by the cuffs. His chest is exposed and open for the kick the man is readying but Peter isn’t going to let that happen.  
“Oh no you don’t!” Peter yells, swinging in and kicking the man in the side. As he does he snatches a detonator that’s hanging out of his pocket with a web. Peter does a flip to get more force behind his hit and lands effortlessly on the ground. The man flies across the room and hits the wall, his head cracking back. Peter webs up his unconscious form a bit before dropping to Tony’s side. 

“Pete!” Tony almost choked on a sob, careful to whisper his name.   
Peter lifted up his mask a bit and grinned. He grabbed onto one of Tony’s cuffs and pulled, breaking it instantly. Then he broke the other other. The minute Tony was free he wrapped both of his arms around Peter, breathing hard and running a hand through Peter’s curls as his mask came off.   
“Oh God kid, I thought...Peter I-” Tony can’t finish.   
Peter hugs him tighter, and he can almost hear Tony’s heartbeat through his chest. He buries his face in his chest and asks a muffled, “Are you ok?”  
“Yeah kid. I’m fine, I’m ok.” Tony’s voice is soft and he seems slightly amused.   
Then Tony pulls away and Peter holds out a hand to help him to his feet, his other hand wrapped around Tony’s back  
“Oh and here,” Peter hands Tony the remote, “We should probably-”  
“What are you doing here?” Tony says angrily. He seems shocked, angry, proud, and happy all at the same time.   
Peter sighs. He starts his protest, “Helping! Saving you! And-”   
Tony blinks, “How did you...I put the compound on lockdown!”  
That’s right, Peter thinks, he did. Well…  
“I kinda hacked FRIDAY,” Peter said, looking up timidly.   
“Kinda in the sense that you did hack FRIDAY?” Tony asked in a completely monotone voice.  
“Yeah, in that kind of sense.” Peter nodded weakly, “Mr. Stark I really think we should talk about this later.”  
“Why?” Tony asks.   
Peter pulls his mask back over his face. “Because that guy over there is getting up and I don’t think he likes either of us,” Peter yelps.   
Tony shoves the detonator behind the nearest table and looks up. His face falls and he gulps, “Kid go.”   
Peter realizes Tony won’t be saying his name anymore to protect Peter’s identity.   
“No, you’d last a second. He won’t just cuff you up this time Tony,” Peter points out, “He could kill you.”  
Tony’s voice is rough and he repeats his command, “Get out of here.”  
“Yeah, not gonna happen,” Peter says stubbornly.  
“Go get help,” Tony demands, pulling Peter backward a bit.  
“Already did Tony. I’m not leaving you. I’m staying,” Peter says firmly, backing up with Tony, keeping him behind him.  
“Kid, you could get hurt,” Tony says weakly.  
Peter narrows his eyes, “Yeah and so could you. But worse. Who’s got the suit? Me. I’m not going anywhere!”   
Tony has a hand on his shoulder and he squeezes it tightly. Peter takes a breath, his two fingers are ready to slam down on his palm; they’re twitching anxiously.   
The man seems to be fully aware of his surroundings now and his gaze falls on them. He snarls and rips the remaining web off of his left metal hand before he charges. Peter runs at him and launches himself forward, jumping into a spiral and kicking him backward again. He wasn’t going to let this guy hurt Tony.   
“Who are you, you freak?” Rumlow snarls.   
“I’m Spiderman. It’s very nice to meet you,” Peter says sarcastically before he runs at him again, ducking a swipe. Peter rolls and brings his foot up as he dives to the ground, catching the man in the groin before shooting a web at the ceiling and flying backward, narrowly avoiding a swipe that would have hit in the chest. He crawls across the ceiling and then drops, landing effortlessly.  
“How do we stop him Mr. Stark?”  
Tony is by the closed door, (the opposite end to where Peter had been), trying to stick a piece of metal between the wall as a lever.   
The man heads for Tony this time and Peter shoots a web from where he is, catching his right hand. The man pulls it with more force than Peter is expecting and he is thrown forward, falling flat on his face. Tony holds the metal out in front of him as the man closes in.  
“Leave him alone!” Peter gets to his feet and swings himself forward but it’s a desperate lunge and badly executed. The man catches Peter around the neck and slams him into the ground. Peter lets out a cry of pain, kicking his legs, his back stinging, before he’s picked up and hurled across the room with another cry. He reaches for Tony out of habit, and Tony reaches for him, letting out a strangled yell, but neither are fast enough. Peter’s stomach drops as he’s flung aside and he hits the wall hard. Peter falls straight down after he slams into a table, sending him and it’s contents crashing to the hard ground.   
“No!” Tony yells, wacking the man across the face with the long piece of metal, “You’re gonna pay for that,” he snarls.   
“I’ve heard about you two, the dynamic duo. Helped him save a ferry didn’t you? You work well together,” Rumlow taunts.   
Tony yells and hits his suit again with the piece of metal. Rumlow just stumbles.  
Peter groans and gets up, shaking his head to clear the dizziness. Peter squeezes through the weapons and guns that are on top of him before getting shakily to his feet. He spots the webbed up Iron Man hand to his right and he grabs it before blinking away spots and biting back the pain. Tony needs him.   
“Tony here!” He yells, flinging himself into the air and tossing Tony the hand. Peter swings forward and tackles the man to the ground as Tony spins and grabs the Iron Man gauntlet, folding it around his fingers and shooting the back of the suit in one smooth, fluid motion. The hand fires with the little amount of blast it had left. The man’s metal suit cracks and Peter shoots his webs, ripping the arm and back pieces off to disable the suit. Tony shoots another blast, a little weaker, but well placed.   
The man rolls onto his stomach, groaning.   
“Told you you’d pay for that,” Tony backs up next to Peter, hand out and ready.   
Peter is on his haunches, both of his hands out and ready to fire webs.   
The man gets up, leaning on the closed door for support, when suddenly it smashes open, crashing against him and pinning him to the ground. Bits of wood and splinters fly out from the crash along with a lot of dust and Peter instinctively gets in front of Tony to shield him with his body and they both stumble back, Peter ready to protect him at all cost. It’s Steve who rolls in, his bright shield gleaming despite the dark room. Peter lowers his hands, breathing hard. He rubs his side; it’s aching from the fall. His head hurts too, but he’ll tell Tony about his injuries later. Natasha sees the man crumpled and trying to raise on the ground and she puts him in a headlock while Sam removes the rest of the metal suit and cuffs his hands.   
Scott becomes real sized, holding up wires, “Door lock,” he says gleefully.  
Peter shoots a web at the detonator Tony had hid and it is flung into his palm. He tosses it to Steve who has put down his shield and he jogs toward them. Steve catches it and his eyes widen.   
“Good job kid,” Steve says. Peter smiles.  
Then Peter turns and hugs Tony who is still pointing a firm hand at the man who is getting retained by the other Avengers. The Iron Man gauntlet is out of power but he’s still raising it threateningly. He holds Peter against his chest with his free hand, breathing hard. Peter hugs him tightly, ignoring the pain in his ribs before putting his hand on Tony’s outstretched and tense arm, slowly making him lower it.   
Steve asks, “You two ok?”  
“Yeah,” Peter nods, “Close calls, that’s all.”  
“Where did you get that Rogers?” Tony almost laughs, motioning to Cap’s shield. Peter can still see he’s shaken. He hasn’t let go of Peter’s shoulder yet.  
Steve grins and nods at Peter.  
Peter blushes under his mask.  
Tony raises an eyebrow at Peter, looking down at him as he gives him a side hug, “Where did you find that?”  
“You left the supply lab door open,” Peter confesses, “You never leave that open. So I went inside. And found it, and gave it to Cap.”  
“Also took out some of the guys for us too,” Steve said, punching Peter lightly in the arm.   
“He did, did he?” Tony smirked at Peter who kicks his feet.   
Natasha jogs into the middle of the room to interrupt, “Stark, SHIELD is here ready to take over.”  
“Let’s go home,” Tony says, putting an arm around Peter.  
Home sounds good, Peter thinks. Really good.


	7. It's Gonna Be Ok

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony and Peter talk after the Rumlow battle, meet with the team, and then everything is back to normal for a couple days. At least until Peter goes out in public with the team. Who knew an 8 year old with blonde hair blue eyes and freckles could impact Peter so much? But everything that goes up must come down. Starting with the distress call from FRIDAY.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so happy you all love this story! Hopefully 2 updates today?? We'll see...  
> Things are about to start ramping up now so strap in everybody! :) Enjoy the chapter and please comment your thoughts, I try to always write back. Thanks and stay tuned!

“I’m fine Mr. Stark really,” Peter protests as Tony drags him into med bay.   
Tony pulls up a chair for him, still talking, but Peter is too annoyed to hear what he was saying. He was planning on going to Rhodey, who understood about the whole ‘Tony worrying’ thing. Peter swore never to get paralyzed. Rhodey said Stark was almost worse than the physical therapy, which was saying a lot. Unfortunately, Tony had caught Peter blinking and rubbing his side too much on the way back home, and that had raised questions. Peter wasn’t very good under pressure and stammered to much, which was reason enough for Tony that he was hurt. Which he was.   
“I’m fine,” Peter said.  
“You positive?” Tony said, narrowing his eyes.  
“Yes!”   
“FRIDAY status,” Tony said crossing his arms. Peter winced, knowing there was little chance the A.I. would say he was completely healthy.  
“Healing ribs. 3 breaks left, 1 fracture, 3 bruised, minor concussion. Multiple cuts bruises on the back as well. Those are the serious injuries. Would you like to hear the minor? There are 14 minor injuries.”  
“No,” Peter said quickly, “See? I’m healing. I’ll be fine in no time,” Peter says unconvincingly, leaning against the back of the chair, “Besides, I had a concussion when I was stuck in the Deep Storage Vault and then right after that I climbed the Washington Monument. I never got treated then,” Peter pointed out, raising his eyebrows.   
“When were you stuck in the Deep Storage Vault?” Tony said, blinking.  
“Before I climbed the Washington Monument,” Peter said vaguely.  
“You never told me you were stuck in the deep storage vault,” Tony said dryly.  
“I thought I did,” Peter said, biting his lip casually and scratching his head.  
“Nope.” Tony narrowed his eyes, “And when did you get a concussion?”  
“When I was fighting Vulture on that truck by that gas station that I thought was their evil lair. It was just a gas station, and then I got knocked out,” Peter said, remembering how disappointed he was that there was no evil lair.   
“Never told me that either,” Tony sighed angrily, “How did you get knocked out?”  
“I jumped into a roof of a car,” Peter said plainly, realizing how dumb that sounded.  
Tony blinked, sighing, “Ok...why didn’t you tell me this?”  
“Well I don’t need to tell you everything!” Peter defended himself.  
“And also, where did that tracker go?” Tony exclaimed, pointing at Peter.  
“I uh, stuck it on a lamp in my hotel room,” Peter looked up weakly.  
“Never told me that either.” Tony crossed his arms, glaring.   
“Well I know I didn’t tell you that,” Peter pointed out.   
Tony shook his head, “You shouldn’t of done that.”  
Peter raised an eyebrow, “Well would you have let me go track him down?”  
“No!” Tony said.  
“Exactly,” Peter held up his hands awkwardly, “There you go, it had to be done!”  
“Had to be done?” Tony spluttered.  
“Tony this was months ago!” Peter laughed, “We’ve already had this discussion.”  
“Yeah and I suppose I’ll learn about something you do tomorrow 4 months from now?” Tony asked furiously.  
“How about you huh?” Peter said, raising his voice. This had turned into an argument of some sorts and Peter had a case. “What happened to your suit? That guy blew up your suit and somehow cuffed you to a table? Why were you out of your suit in the first place? Do you know how scared I was when I crawled in and saw you there?” Peter’s voice was on the brink of a yell, but still firm, “Do you know how mad I was when I saw he had hurt you Tony?”  
“Peter,” Tony tried to cut in but this time it was Peter who wouldn’t have it. For once Tony didn’t talk over Peter who had kept going with fury in his eyes. Peter didn’t back down like he had so many times before.  
“And the worst part was that until I was closer, I wasn’t able to do anything either!”   
Now he was yelling. “Don’t think I didn’t hear what he said. I did.”   
Peter’s face screwed up in anger and pain, “I saw him punch you Tony, and I hated myself for not doing anything sooner. I hated watching you struggle and yell because I was in the room Tony! And I couldn’t say anything and I just had to watch until I figured out what to do. And I didn’t know what to do-”  
Now Tony cut in as if he was not going to let Peter beat himself up over this, “You did kid. You did know what to do. And you did just fine. I’m sorry.”   
Tony’s voice was a little weaker than usual and there were tears in his eyes, “I’m sorry I had to put you through that.”  
Peter let out all the tenseness that was building up in his chest and breathed out.   
Peter grumbled angrily, crossing his arms and avoiding eye contact.  
Tony let out a small amused chuckle, before he sighed, “I’m sorry Peter. I didn’t think, and I should have and I will next time. I promise. I won’t do that to you ever again.”  
Peter looked up into Tony’s sincere gaze and nodded slowly, “Ok.”  
They stay there in silence for a little bit, and when Peter looks up, he sees Tony staring at him and smiling.  
‘What?” Peter smirks.  
“You’ve grown up kid. You’re not the same boy who had ‘homework’ and didn’t want to go to Germany,” Tony said.   
Peter smiled proudly, “Yeah.”  
“And that old you would not have just yelled at Iron Man just now,” Tony winked.   
Peter licked his lips, rubbing his neck, a little embarrassed, “Well I didn’t mean to yell- I’m sorry Tony.”  
“Don’t apologize Pete. I deserved it,” Tony admitted.  
Peter nodded, “Yeah you did.”   
Tony laughed, then looked him in the eye again, “I’m proud of you Peter,” Tony said.   
Peter’s chest swelled with pride and happiness. His voice cracked a little, “Thanks.”  
Tony tried his best to hide a smile before putting out his arm. Peter walked underneath it and Tony draped it over his shoulder, “Let’s go talk with the team.”

 

“As far as we know, HYDRA doesn’t know about Bucky here, and we plan to keep it that way. We have a cover that he’s on the streets, still in the shadows. So if any press asks you, then that’s what you tell them,” Steve informs the team. They’re all seated around the table.   
Natasha and Clint are arm wrestling. Tony is paying attention to him, which he appreciates, but his focus is slightly averted to Peter who is throwing a tennis ball a foot forward, webbing it, and then bringing it back into his palm. He’s spinning back and forth in his swirly chair. Cap swears the kid acts 5 years younger sometimes.   
Sam and Rhodes are poking fun at each others suits, and Scott is hitting his shrink button over and over on a dare. He’s been doing it for 2 minutes straight. It’s Wanda who puts a stop to the madness, since she’s sitting next to him. She flicks her hand and the next time he becomes normal size he hits his head on red energy. Scott yelps and scowles, rubbing his head. Vision had been listening intently and he nods, his face showing complete seriousness.   
Bucky is at his side and he looks rather uncomfortable, probably because the conversation is focussed on him.   
Steve finds it weird that Tony had let him take over his old role of “leader” the minute he got back. Tony had said a while ago, right before Ultron became the main threat, that Steve was the boss and he was just the person who paid for everything and made the team look cooler. The reputation for how Stark loved his ego implied that the second part was meant to be a joke, as most things are with Tony, but he seemed pretty confident in the first part, and Steve had been rather honored. That was of course before the Sokovia Accords and their whole fall out, but even that was getting smoothed around the edges The talk on the balcony had cleared things up and they shook hands. Steve was glad about that, but still surprised. This was a new Stark. One that was definitely still annoying, still found ways out, cracked the same amount of jokes, and fought with his signature impulsiveness, but still different. He was smiling more often and he seemed to care more, to forgive more. Steve was pretty sure it was because of Peter.   
Speaking of that, Steve still couldn’t get an answer on the whole father son thing. Peter had even wore these thick-framed black glasses sometimes, and that didn’t help Steve’s cause. They were wearing matching science shirts with some sort of joke about electrons on them. Next to each other, even a person who didn’t know either of them would guess they were father and son.   
Steve sighs and looks back up at the team. Tony’s got his gaze on Peter now, a smile on his face. Sam and Rhodey’s conversation has turned more into an argument. Bucky is now talking with Vision. Wanda is encased in red energy and Steve sees little pings as a tiny person runs at her and punches the forcefield with his fist, doing no damage against the magic. (Scott’s probably mad about the whole hitting of the head thing.) And Peter...Peter looks like he’s loving life, still spinning in his chair and webbing his ball, but then he looks at Tony and grins, throwing him the ball which Stark catches. They begin to throw it back and forth across the table.   
Steve clears his throat.  
The commotion stopped. Everyone looked at him, embarrassed. Tony throws the bar a little high and Peter almost falls out of his chair as he reaches to catch it. The chair shakes as he steadies himself, looking at Steve like he had been caught cheating on a test. Tony snickers.  
Steve smiled at him and then clasped his hands, “Well, I’ve got nothing else more to say. Stark?”  
Tony put his feet up on the table and sighed, “Nope. I got nothing.”  
“Alright,” Steve drummed the table and got to his feet.   
“Actually,” Stark said, “One question. Pepperoni or cheese everyone? I’m ordering pizza.”

 

8 Days later

Peter had been staying at the compound for 2 days in a row now. Tony and he had spent all last night tinkering with their suits; they were almost up to 3 in the morning. It was a teacher work day on Thursday and a holiday Friday, so Peter was going to be at the compound for 2 more days until he returned home. Scott had just asked if he wanted to go to the store and Peter said yes, wanting to get outside. He asked Tony if he had wanted to go, but the billionaire was hunched over his computer and he politely declined, but Tony suggested Peter go with Scott. Peter nodded and walked out, after Tony gave him a nudge in the shoulder. Scott had recruited Clint, Wanda and Sam to go as well. Peter took a breath of fresh air as they walked to the car.   
They would have asked Steve, but he was out at a meeting to rebuke the Sokovia Accords on behalf of he and Bucky, whom he had proven to be innocent with the help of Tony. Bucky didn’t want to leave the compound yet, so he politely declined.  
Peter had a double take in the car as he realized with a huge grin that he was going grocery shopping with Ant-Man, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch and the Falcon. Wow. He wondered what this would be like.   
They got to the grocery store and Peter had to laugh as they all got out of the car. People gave them weird looks before realizing who they were and starting to follow them. It was like walking with famous people. It was walking with famous people. Clint ignored the paparazzi behind them and started to read their list as they all walked into the store. The minute they set foot in, people blocked their way in front of them, and the people who had been following them blocked them in the back. It was a blur of faces and voices as a mob crowded them, asking to take pictures and get autographs.   
Scott was grinning, loving the attention even though he had to put mask on and he turned, putting his hand out to Peter, “Hey guys I’d like you to meet-”  
Peter shook his head violently. Scott remembered that Peter’s secret identity was still hidden and lowered the hand awkwardly. People surged forward and Peter slowly melted backward in the wave. He got shoved and pushed by the crowd of people farther and farther away...until he was on the outside of the circle. He sighed and felt slightly deflated as people bumped his shoulders to get closer to their heros. It must feel good to be famous and have people know it’s you. Peter remembered Tony telling him that ‘if he was nothing without the suit then he shouldn’t have it’. That gave him a little hope since he still had the suit, which meant he was something without it, but people didn’t know it was him underneath, which was a little sad.  
Peter sighed and slowly backed away from the huge mob that was swarming the Avengers. He vaguely remembered what Clint had said on the list and he grabbed the nearest basket and went to go get bread.

“Peter!”   
“PETER!”  
Peter heard his name being called and he looked up from the candy isle. He had gotten mostly everything he could remember, and then went browzing for some Doritos. He loved Doritos. Peter walked out and found Clint and Scott, and- well, everybody, pushing past people, heads on a swivel.   
“Yeah?” Peter said dryly, poking his head out of the isle.  
Clint’s eyes found him first and he pointed, “There! There! Peter!”  
Peter scoffed, “Guys I’m not 5, I didn’t run away.”   
He had been tired of Tony treating him like a kid, but things were different now with him. He was like a dad to Peter, or at least the closest thing he had, so because of that, Tony was the exception. Peter didn’t like anyone else giving him that same treatment.   
“Peter! Where’d you go?” Scott demanded.   
Peter scrunched up his eyebrows and held up a full basket, “I got most of the stuff.”  
They all heard his tone and softened their expressions.   
Peter waved them off, “It’s ok, it’s just...it’s ok. Never mind.”  
He handed the basket over to Clint and muttered, “I’m gonna uh, wait in the car.”  
“Peter are you sure?” Wanda asked, her gaze sympathetic. Peter nodded with as much enthusiasm as he could muster, walking backward. Good timing too, as another wave of people saw them and came rushing, every single one of them holding phones, to surround the superheros.   
“Yeah I’m sure-” Peter started to say, but he trailed off when he knew they couldn’t hear him anymore. Peter sighed and walked to the door.   
“I’m Spiderman,” Peter said to someone who ran past him. They didn’t even look back. Peter sighed. No one was paying attention to him so he shot a web at the door and pulled the handle open, before stuffing his hand in his hoodie and walking out, seeing another oncoming wave of people heading for the store, who probably heard about the Avengers from social media. Peter rubbed the fabric of his suit that was underneath his hoodie and sighed. If only he could just swing in, take off the mask, have the Avengers clap him on the back, get recognized for once, be in the spotlight…  
Peter shook his head and straightened. He didn’t need anyone knowing, he was find helping out from under the mask. It’s what made Spiderman Spiderman. He wasn’t going to get caught up in the world of fame. Peter had to admit though as he crossed the street into the parking lot that a little recognition would be nice. He had barely made it across the street when he heard a small shout, “Wait! Wait! Stop! Hold on!”  
Peter turned around and saw this little kid, a boy, running as fast as he could across the street. Peter stopped and turned around. The kid looked about 8 years old. The boy ran right up to him out of breath, and blinked, just staring at him. He had piercing blue eyes and blonde messy hair. Freckles were splashed across his nose and cheeks. The kid looked at Peter with a questioning smirk, his mouth a slanted line, his eyes narrowed and innocent, and Peter just looked back.   
“You ok kid?” Peter asked, looking down at the kid and speaking gently, “Who are you looking for?”  
“S-spiderman,” the kid said. He slowly held out his fist, timid and shy, confused and excited. Peter looked down. Something white, sticky and curled up was lying in his palm. It was a piece of web that Peter had shot at the door. His heart stopped. Oh no. He shouldn’t have been so careless. Now this kid was gonna tell and he would be known and his life would change forever. No Peter! How could you be so stupid? Maybe he could testify against the kid, he never shot the web, he wasn’t Spiderman- oh my gosh, what was he thinking? You can’t just-  
“Look,” the kid said, breaking Peter’s panicked thoughts. He had a backpack on, Peter noticed, and he took it off, reaching inside. He pulled out a red mask and shoved it on over his head. Peter blinked when the kid straightened it. It was his mask. A handmade, too big, lopsided mask, with the eye holes missing where the kid’s blue eyes stared at him from and where his blonde hair stuck out of the end in tufts, but it was a Spiderman mask. The kid took it off and stared at him again, shifting his feet awkwardly and embarrassed.   
Peter didn’t know what to say. So he didn’t say anything.  
“You’re my favorite superhero,” the kid told him matter-of-factly.   
“Really?” Peter said, finding his voice, “Thanks. But weren’t you expecting, I don’t know, someone like Tony Stark? Or Captain America?”  
The kid looked him over, pursed his lips, decided, then shook his head, “Nope.”   
“You...you weren’t?’ Peter stutters, a little shocked.   
The kid looks him over again. Peter’s jeans and his hoodie, his messy, curly hair and brown eyes.   
“Nope. You’re like me.” The kid smiles shyly a little, “That’s cooler.” Then he blinked and held his mask out for Peter who looks down at it, confused.  
“I want you to have it,” The kid says, grabbing Peter’s hand and putting the mask in it. His little hand is so tiny against Peter’s palm. Peter curled his fingers around the red fabric and smiles.  
He finds his voice again, “Thanks kid. Hey, what’s your name?”  
“Brady,” the kid says, clearly happy he took the mask.   
“Hey Brady. I’m…” Peter hadn’t really said this to someone directly before, besides Tony of course. He took a breath, “I’m Spiderman.”  
“Yeah, I know,” Brady said in awe.   
Peter rubbed the mask with his fingers, “Do you want me to put it on?”  
Brady grinned and nodded vigorously.  
Peter smiled and pushed back his hair, putting the mask on. It had been big on Brady, but it fit Peter pretty well actually. He smiled and crouched in his pose that was on all of the newspapers. Brady giggled, his blue eyes gleaming. The boy looked really happy.  
Peter sat on his haunches, his voice muffled, “Hey Brady, I need you do to me a favor.”  
“Like a mission?” Brady asked, smiling really wide.  
Peter lifted the mask over his head, but didn’t quite take it off, and he smiled back, “Yeah. A mission. I need you to do me a big favor and not say anything about this ok?”  
Brady bites his lip, clearly disappointed, “I can’t tell anybody?”  
Peter shakes his head sadly, “I’m sorry buddy but no. No one really knows. You’ve got to help me keep this a secret? Ok, just between us. Can you do that?”  
Brady hesitates, then nods, “Yeah. I won’t tell. I promise.”  
Peter grins before he holds out his fist, “Thanks Brady.”  
Brady gives him a fist bump in absolute giddiness before looking back towards the store, “I better go. I ran to catch you. My mom’s in there.”  
“Yeah, go buddy go,” Peter smiled, “Look- look both ways,” Peter stammered, not realizing why he was so attached to this kid all of a sudden.  
Brady smiles one last time before he picks up his backpack, looks both ways and runs across the road, his little legs moving really fast.   
Peter takes off the mask and smiles, holding it in his hand. Brady turns around and looks at him once he’s across the street. He then concentrates, sticks out his tongue in concentration and raised his arm out straight. Then he brings his two middle fingers to his palm and smiles. Peter grins and mimics his pose, making sure not to lower his fingers all the way like he usually does and accidentally shoot a web. Brady giggles, jumping up and down before he runs inside the store. Peter lowers his hand and smiles again, before walking back to the car. When Peter gets inside, he’s still smiling.   
“Hey Karen,” Peter says out loud. (He and Tony had fixed her up to the little spider on his chest so he could talk to her without the mask on, or talk to her on LTE mode, which he didn’t even need the suit for; she was hooked up to his cool bracelet thing Tony had made for him.)  
“Hi Peter.”  
“Being Spiderman is really cool,” Peter said.   
“You made that kid’s day Peter.”  
“Yeah I did, didn’t I?” Peter sat back happily in the seat, grinning.   
“Brady,” he said thoughtfully.  
That was what Spiderman was all about: the little things. Peter was quite happy watching out for the little guy. He didn’t need the fame or the praise. He was perfectly content under the mask. Peter smiled again. He deserved the suit, and he was someone without it.   
“I’m his favorite superhero,” Peter said happily to no one in particular. He can’t help but smile again.

When the team had all gotten back in the car, they knew something was up. Peter’s mood had completely changed. And they didn’t want to ruin it by asking, Peter could tell, so they left it at that. Clint drove, and he and Sam got into an argument about how he could or couldn’t drive everything that had a wheel. That ended up with Wanda using her energy to drive from the backseat, because Clint had taken his hands off the wheel to make big and angry hand motions. Scott had shrunk down and was sitting inside the cup holder so there could be more room, but Peter was perfectly fine in his own seat. He kept telling Scott to shift back and switch spots because 3 people could easily fit in the back, but Scott declined, saying it was cool riding in a cup holder. Peter finally gave up trying to convince him and then the conversation became car-wide, with Clint taking hold of the wheel again. The new topic was whose suit was the best, and that got pretty heated, in a nice and fun way, sort of. Peter totally thought his was. The Iron Spider one at least and he had a pretty good argument.   
“Do you have a parachute Sam? Do you have night vision, x-ray vision, heat signature detection, tracking and scanning, hacking options and spider legs that come out of your back that protect you from falling?”  
“No but-” Sam protested.   
“Case closed,” Peter said.   
“Hey! I can shrink!” Scott said.   
“Yeah we know Tic Tac,” Sam grumbled.   
“But the real question is who would win in a fight?” Wanda said. That sparked a whole other argument, in which Peter was also holding his own. He and Scott had both beaten Falcon, everyone started bashing Clint saying they could take him, but no one was really sure they could take on Wanda. Peter was smiling and laughing the whole time. It was all good natured banter.  
Then they got a call on the car’s display.   
FRIDAY.   
That was probably Tony. Peter clambered up to the front seat to answer.  
“Hey Tony!” He said cheerfully.   
It was FRIDAY, and her voice wasn’t anywhere near as cheerful as Peter’s. “Mr. Parker you need to- Peter- Tony is- best he can but-”  
Peter knit his eyebrows, his grin slowly going away, “FRIDAY? I can’t hear you you’re breaking up.”  
“Mr. Par- come back- it's too l- they’re here- they’ve taken- ony told me to tell that he lov-”  
The line cut off. Peter looked up, his heart skipping a beat. "Tony," Peter thought. That was all he could think about.   
Something was wrong. He felt his Spidey senses tingle and he his heart jumped to his throat.   
He whispered, “Dad...” but nobody heard him; his voice was so quiet.  
“Clint step on it,” Sam demanded. 

They rounded the exit into the compound faster than anyone has ever done. There was no time to congratulate. When the Compound came into view, Peter screamed. He literally cried out, looking through the front window.   
“Guys what happened? What happened?” Peter was almost in tears and he asked his A.I., “Karen what happened?”  
“I don’t know Peter, FRIDAY is down.”  
“Peter it’s gonna be ok,” Scott said, but there was an edge to his voice.  
Peter shook his head, rocking back and forth a little bit in his seat, unwilling to look out the window again. Wanda had a hand on his back, peering at the horrific sight.  
Clint was calling Steve who answered, “Hey I’m on my way back now. Good news-”  
“Cap suit up. We have a situation.” Clint said firmly, “I’m in the car with Scott, Wanda, Sam and Peter. We’re back at the compound after getting a call from FRIDAY. Steve I don’t know what happened. Maybe it got bombed, or- or something...we’re gonna go find everyone. Maybe it was HYDRA? I don’t know, just get your butt back to the compound. And stay sharp.”  
“’ll be there as fast as I can,” Steve said, “But be careful. They may be waiting for you.”   
There was a pause and then Steve took a shaky breath, “Oh God.”   
He sounded worried, “Stay on the line Clint. Update me.”  
“Will do Cap.” Clint said, his voice rough.  
Peter was now facing his fears and staring out of the window at the broken side of the building. The wall was in bits, there was fire scattering the rubble, and the once white and grey wall was black with blasts and bullets. No, no, no, no, no. Vision, Natasha, Rhodey, Bucky, Tony. Tony. Peter shoved off his hoodie and hit the sunroof button. He yanked his mask on and was out of the car and swinging towards the building before anyone could stop him. He heard their yells of panic behind him but he didn’t care. He didn’t care about anything except finding Tony.   
Tony was in there. Peter landed at the edge of the building, breathing deep gulping breaths, his display up and functioning, Karen already running scans and trying to contact FRIDAY.   
“TONY!” Peter yelled.  
He scrambled up the rubble and ran through the trashed hallways, ignoring the blackened walls and blown up floors. The ceiling was even falling apart. Peter swung faster and faster. He reached the labs and slid in frantically, his head on a swivel. Nothing.   
“Tony!”   
Nothing.   
Peter shook his head, backed out of the labs and ran for the meeting hall and kitchen. Things were smashed to bits, and there was no sign of the billionaire. Peter found his voice that had been choked for the past couple minutes.   
He gasped for air and let out a strangled croak, “FRIDAY! FRIDAY are you there?”  
“I’m here Peter.” The A.I.’s voice was broken.   
“Run footage!” Peter practically screamed.  
A security camera footage was displayed in front of him. The compound had been bombed, and Peter scrolled through that part, not wanting to see his home blasted to bits, and then the HYDRA agents came, rushing in with guns blazing. Peter sees Tony flying at them in his Iron Man suit, keeping them back. Vision at his side in the air, doing that weird dimensional thing he does so that the bullets pass through him. Rhodes comes out without his suit on, still in his knee brace, coughing from the dust. He can’t run, he doesn’t even have time to think. The HYDRA agents overwhelm him, cuffing his hands and dragging him into the jet that pulled up outside of the broken building. There’s crashes and bangs and Tony screams for Rhodes.   
Peter feels a lump in his throat, his eyes darting across the screen.   
Bucky is holding his head as a man with a book comes over and starts yelling at him. He falls to his knees and the HYDRA agents restrain him, getting him on the same plane.   
Now there’s a knot in Peter’s stomach.   
Tony yells again, letting his missiles fly and explode the nearest wave of HYDRA agents. But they’re losing. Vision gets knocked out of the sky. Tony is running out of ammo and his Iron Man drones that have been the strongest line of defense are falling around him. Natasha is fighting like a devil, but even she can get overwhelmed, and she finally does. It’s just Tony now.   
Peter bites back a sob as he watches Tony do everything he can to save them.   
Vision is dragged to the jet with these weird electric restraints. They must be something if they’re able to contain the power of the mind stone.   
Peter has tears in his eyes as he watches Tony try to get to his friends in vain. Then a bullet hits the camera and it cracks the footage stops. Peter shakes his head, panicking and crying, “No! FRIDAY I need to see what happens! Is Tony-”  
“That’s all I have, I’m sorry Peter. My systems are shutting down, I can’t- I’m shutting-I-”   
FRIDAY’s voice shuts off.   
“FRIDAY?” Peter says urgently, tears stinging against his eyes as they fall down underneath his mask, “FRIDAY!”  
It’s Karen who answers him, “I’m afraid she’s offline Peter. I’m rebooting her but it will take a very long time. Her sensors are severely damaged.”  
“No,” Peter’s voice is so small and he hates it.   
He grits his teeth, “No!”   
Peter swings out of the room and runs across the hall, turning the corner into Tony’s room and the common room. Nothing.   
“No!” Peter yells again. He runs the whole building.   
Nothing.   
“Tony!”  
Nothing nothing nothing nothing!  
“TONY!”  
“Karen scan the building for heat signatures,” he says desperately, “and put out the fires. Override the sprinkler system, and- and, Karen I don’t know what to do. I guess alert police and fire department- I don’t know!”   
“I’ll take care of it Peter,” Karen promises.  
Peter’s gone through the whole broken building. He’s not here. Tony’s not here. No one is. HYDRA took everyone. Peter feels a stab in his chest. Every breath he takes burns, and it’s not just because of the smoke. He coughs from that, and chokes on his own sobs.  
“I can only do so much; I’ve rerouted most of my power to backup generators and FRIDAY, but I track movement by the main entrance,” Karen announces.  
Peter rushes down the steps, swinging and flipping into the center of the room and raising his hands to web up the intruders. He lets out a strangled yell of anger, his eyes are narrowed and there is murder on his face underneath the mask, and his Spider eyes show it.  
“Woah woah woah Pete-” Clint puts up his hands. It’s just them. All 5 of them had readied their weapons he looked so intimidating.  
Peter takes off his mask, his face a wreck and they all bit their lips at his broken state. Tears are falling and his eyes are bloodshot. He’s covered in dust and coughing up smoke, but he takes a shaky breath and his voice comes out weak and scared. They can tell his throat is coated in black smoke.  
“They took them,” Peter said in a shattered voice, “HYDRA came and took the team. FRIDAY’s down. I have to find Tony. He can’t be gone. He can’t-”   
“Peter wait-” Wanda pleads.   
Peter doesn’t listen. He turns around, wiping his eyes, and shoving his mask back on. Then he swings up a level to re-search the building. Peter doesn’t let himself think what a small voice is whispering inside his head. Tony has to be here, he has to.   
Not Tony, he thinks, his breathing speeding up, Anyone but Tony. Everyone but Tony...  
“Tony!” Peter yells, running through the blown up halls for the 2nd time. He goes in his room and looks around, doubtful Tony would be in here and he’s right. Everything crashes down on Peter at once- all the stress, all the fear, all the sadness. He feels his breathing speed up as he stumbles against the chair. Dust from his suit falls to the ground and Peter coughs from the smoke, his lungs burning. His head is spinning and Peter gasps for breath. He yanks off his mask and sinks to the ground, his back against the bunk, struggling to intake air. Peter tries desperately to calm himself down as he realizes what was happening to him. No, not now, not now.   
It was a panic attack. Tony had had them, and Peter helped him through it. Then he had given the curse to Peter, and he had had one once, late at night. It was 1 in the morning when he screamed for Tony with the little breath he had left. The billionaire had heard him, probably lying awake as usual, and sprinted to his room. Peter was on the floor; he had fallen out of bed, clasping his chest and gasping, blinking hard. He remembered Tony coming in in the middle of the night, and diving to his knees with a concerned expression on his tired but alert face as he searched for what was hurting his kid. 

“Kid! Peter! Hey calm down, what’s wrong?” Tony asked urgently.   
The world was spinning and Peter couldn’t breath. His thoughts were everywhere, he couldn’t focus, he couldn’t see straight, he couldn’t stop...freaking out. Tony seemed to understand immediately. This was exactly what he did when he had attacks. Like father like son. And now he had to help his son.  
Peter clutched the edge of his bed, squeezing his eyes shut. His lungs were closing up and Peter took bigger gasps, only making it worse. Hyperventilating hurt Peter’s chest but he couldn’t stop, taking bigger and bigger gulps of air, tears falling down his cheeks.  
Peter felt his ragged and raspy breathing get faster. Tears fell down his cheeks. Peter grasped his chest, starting to tremble in his empty room.  
“Peter listen to me. I need you to listen to my voice. Ok?” Tony’s voice is calm and firm. “Focus on my voice.”  
“Focus, uh huh,” Peter had gasped, blinking hard.  
“Good kid. Ok, now slow your breathing ok? Remember what you told me? In, out.”  
“In, out,” Peter sobbed.   
“Breathe kid, breathe.”  
Peter let out a shaky breath, cut off as his body instinctively gasped again.   
Tony nodded, rubbing his back, “Close Peter, try again. You can do this ok?”  
Peter took another breath, this one a little deeper and less rapid.  
“Good kid, that was good. Again. Breathe Pete.” Tony’s hand was gripping Peter’s, and his other hand was on his shoulder. It’s warm and reassuring and it makes Peter feel safe.   
“Breathe,” Peter mumbles to himself.   
“Tony,” Peter gasps, reaching out to grasp Tony so he can get closer- so he can get away from the thing that’s scraping his lungs and get away from the fear, the panic, the hurt...his eyes are squeezed shut, his feet digging into the ground.  
"Hey look at me, look at me."  
Peter forces his eyes open. Tony looks him in the eye, "I've got you. I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere Pete ok?"   
Peter grips Tony hard, shaking his head vigorously, “Don’t let me go, please Tony, don’t let go-”  
“I won’t. I’ve got you, Peter. I’m here. I’ve got you.”   
“Don’t let go,” Peter cries out, his eyes still squeezed shut.   
“Breathe kid. I’ve got you. I'm always going to be here.”

It takes a second, but Peter steadies his breathing and smiles slightly, still hearing Tony in his ears.  
“I’ve got you, son," he hears.  
Peter puts up his hand to feel Tony’s warm touch but instead he touches his shirt. The memory stops and Peter opens his eyes. He is breathing normally now, his hand on his own shoulder, his other hand gripping the ground. He blinks and focuses on the dark and empty room.   
“Tony?” He asks weakly.   
His voice fails him, so quiet and scared, “Dad?”  
He hadn’t meant to say it, it just came out, and to his surprise, he wasn’t shocked. It only made it hurt more in fact. Peter has never felt so alone. He coughs up smoke and his hand slides off his shoulder sadly.   
Tony isn’t there.   
Peter sinks against the bunk, head in his hands, sobbing in his arms. He stays like that for a minute, hoping Tony would just fly in with his suit, drop to his knees and hug him, promising to never scare him like that again, never leave his side. It takes a while, Peter finally realizes that’s not going to happen. When he eventually looks up, Peter feels fury in his heart, his chest heating up.   
No.   
Tony’s ok.   
Maybe he’s under the rubble. Maybe he did get taken, but it’s Tony and he would be ok until Peter found him. He gets up and shakes off his mask, watching dust fall to the ground. He clenches his fists, takes a deep breath, and blinks hard to concentrate, leaning heavily against his bed before shoving his mask on. Tony’s somewhere. Peter’s not going to stop looking.   
He won’t stop until he finds him.


	8. Oh Canada

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter gets a spark of hope and a rescue mission is put into play to go save the team.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2nd update of the day :) (Hopefully 2 tmrw as well- I have some time on my hands XD)  
> Enjoy!

He told himself he wouldn't stop, and he hasn’t. Peter is still searching the rubble. He’s about to give up and break down when he sees a fallen Iron Man machine on the ground. Peter’s heart skips a beat because it’s not maroon and yellow like the one he’s grown to love and look up to. It’s one of the defense prototypes Peter had helped Tony perfect and he runs over, pulling off his mask and sinking to his knees, bringing the broken machine into his lap. He looks at the helmet that’s barely attached to the rest of the body. Peter holds it to his chest and hugs it, tears pushing past his closed eyelids. But then Peter realizes the suit is vibrating. He blinks and pulls away, looking down and turning the helmet over, breaking it off from the metal suit. He looks down into the helmet and sees a blinking light inside. Peter blinks again and slowly raises it before putting the helmet over his own head.   
The helmet whirs to life with a little energy left and a voice comes to his ears. Peter jumps.  
“Hey kid. I knew you’d find this. I uh...I wanted to say I’m sorry because well, I’m putting you in that situation again.”  
Peter sobs in the helmet, out of pure relief. It’s so good to hear Tony’s voice.   
“Knowing you, you probably checked the security footage because you’re so dang smart. I don’t know how much you saw, but you probably know...at least that HYDRA came with some big guns and they were bigger than mine. I- I didn’t do everything I could.”  
Tony’s voice sounds broken and sad, like he’s failed, even though Peter knew he had been a hero.  
“So I’m fixing this. And I’m gonna get everyone back. I don’t care what it takes. I snuck away on this ship, I’m in the engine room and I guess they’re going back to their base or Headquarters or something, I don’t know. You need to tell Cap where I am, I have my location tracking on. But Peter, I’m serious about this one, I need you to stay at the compound. These people took down half the team, and if they get you...Peter I’d never forgive myself. I love you way too much kid. Way too much. Please, for me, don’t come. Get this to Cap.”  
Tony pauses, clearing his throat like he’s going to cry, “I’m so sorry Peter. I-” Tony pauses again, his voice lowering, “Someone’s coming. I have to go. Some father figure I am,” Tony chuckles with no humor and it sounds like a half sob. “I’m sorry kid, for everything. I love you so much Peter-”  
The helmet goes dark. Peter blinks, tears falling down his face. He takes a shaky breath and then takes off the helmet. Peter blinks again, and rubs his nose before swinging back into the building to go find Cap.

“Steve!” A voice yells.   
Cap looks up from the table and sees Peter swinging as fast as he can through the halls. There’s an Iron Man helmet tucked under his arm. The team has gathered around the table and were discussing what to do. Wanda wasn’t good, since Vision had been taken. Scott was trying and failing to lighten the mood. Sam was the only logical one, but even he was shook up. Steve had gotten to the compound as fast he could and saw everyone standing in shock around the table. They had all relaxed when they saw him, but Steve wasn’t much of a leader in that moment. He was overwhelmed by the loss of Bucky, his best friend he had worked so hard to get back only for him to be snatched away again, and the loss of his friends- particularly Tony, who although they butted heads, always worked better together. Always.   
FRIDAY wasn’t up yet. He had completely forgotten about Peter until the team had said the kid was the reason the press wasn’t here and the electricity still worked. He had done so much. He rerouted the system to keep the building up and running, jammed the press signals and closed the gates. He had gotten the police and fire department to put out the remaining fires after activating the sprinkler system. He had also announced over the speakers that Karen was trying to reboot FRIDAY. Then he went to search again. No one had seen him for the past hour with all the work he was doing, throwing himself at everything to be useful and keep himself distracted. Steve almost wanted to go get him. Peter had also been searching the rubble for a while now; no one could convince him to walk away and come eat or drink or anything. But now the kid was swinging in as fast as he could, and he skidded to a stop at the table. Steve was glad to see him, and glad to see a certain gleam in his eyes. Cap got a good look at the kid who was stuttering in front of him. Loosing Tony had really taken a toll on Peter; his suit was covered in dust and smoke, as was his face, tear-stained, with lines where the dust had been broken when he cried. His hair was messy was dirty and his his eyes were red and tired. But now there was a certain energy from him as he handed Cap the Iron Man helmet he had been holding.   
“It’s from Tony. He’s ok,” Peter said breathlessly.   
Cap takes the helmet cautiously from Peter.  
“Put it on,” Peter says, rubbing his eyes, “Put it on. Put it on.”  
Steve nods and puts on the helmet. The screen blinks to life and Tony’s voice comes to Steve’s ears, making him sigh in relief.   
Right away, Steve realizes the message was meant for Peter, “Hey kid. I knew you’d find this. I uh...I wanted to say I’m sorry because well, I’m putting you in that situation again. Knowing you, you probably checked the security footage because you’re so dang smart. I don’t know how much you saw, but you probably know at least that HYDRA came with some big guns and they were bigger than mine. I- I didn’t do everything I could.”  
Steve hates the tone Tony’s using. Stark usually has a sort of cockiness in his voice, but right now it sounds ashamed, broken, worried, and uncertain.   
“So I’m fixing this. And I’m gonna get everyone back. I don’t care what it takes. I snuck away on this ship, I’m in the engine room and I guess they’re going back to the Headquarters or something, I don’t know. You need to tell Cap where I am, I have my location tracking on.”  
That gives Steve a little hope. Tony, again, trusting him. He makes a note to go track Tony’s suit right after the message is finished.   
“But Peter, I’m serious about this one, I need you to stay at the compound. These people took down half the team, and if they get you...Peter I’d never forgive myself. I love you way too much kid. Way too much. Please, for me, don’t come.”  
Steve frowns, resisting the urge to look through the Iron Man eyes at Peter’s happy face, mending, yet still broken. But Steve knows he heard the message and if Tony doesn’t want his kid coming, Steve is going to try and convince Peter not to go. Tony’s right. A 15 year old can’t get into HYDRA’s clutches, especially not Peter. The whole team has made a certain bond with him, a protective but respectable bond with him. Steve would never forgive himself if Peter got hurt or worse because he let him go into this one. Also, Tony would never speak to him again, and probably get himself killed trying to get Peter back. But Steve wasn’t so sure Peter would understand that.  
Tony’s voice breaks and then he says, “Get this to Cap. I’m so sorry Peter. I- Someone’s coming. I have to go. Some father figure I am,” Tony laughs and for once, it’s dry and stale.   
Steve can’t imagine what was going through Peter’s head when he heard that, or Tony’s. Even he felt his throat closing up a little. He bites his lip as Tony rushes through the last line, “I’m sorry kid, for everything. I love you so much Peter-”  
The helmet blinks out. The message is over. Cap slowly takes off the helmet. He looks at Peter who is eagerly looking at him.  
The kid blinks, “We’re gonna go find him right?”  
Cap nods, “Of course we are Peter. Let’s track his suit. Everyone, with me. Labs, now.”

Steve watches as Peter’s fingers fly across the keyboard. He’s got a lock on Tony’s suit on the computer.   
“There! There! There!” Peter points at the screen before realizing where he was pointing, “They’re in Canada. Great.”  
Steve doesn’t hesitate, “We’re going to Canada then. Suit up.”  
“What’s in Canada?” Sam grumbles.  
“Hockey,” Scott jokes, “eh?”   
“Anyone know French?” Wanda asks weakly.   
Peter stayed in the chair.   
Steve pulled one up next to him, “Pete we need to talk.”  
“I know what he said,” Peter said softly, not making eye contact with Steve, “and I know what you’re going to say.” Then he looks up, pleading almost. “But I can help! I can! I’m ready! I can do this!”  
Steve loved the fire Peter showed and he looked at the floor, “I know kid. I know you can. But I can’t...look,” Steve knew he would have to try a different approach. He hated lying, but he wasn’t about to let this kid waltz into a battle with HYDRA operatives that just took out half their team. Tony would kill him.  
“I know you can handle this Pete,” Steve said, “And as much as I want you to go, there’s a problem.”  
“What?” Peter said slowly, a little less tense at the fact that Steve said he knew he could handle it.  
Steve takes a breath and says a prayer, hoping this works, “We can’t have the press knowing about this which means we can’t just leave the compound all alone. FRIDAY will come back online and no one knows her better than you. No one knows the compound better than you. You’re the only chance we’ve got at tracking Tony. Someone needs to stay behind and I hate that it’s you, and I also hate to break it to you kid, but you’re a genius. And the genius needs to stay here and work behind the scenes just this once. It’s what Tony would want.”  
Peter is silent, before he finally nods sadly, “Ok. I guess you’re right. I don’t like it, but…” he trails off, sighing.  
Steve smiles at him and ruffles Peter’s hair, “I trust you kid. Keep yourself safe, and the compound secure. You know what to do.”  
“Yeah,” Peter says sadly.  
Steve gets up and starts to walk out the door when Peter calls him back.  
“Steve?”  
Cap turns around, “Yeah kid?”  
“Get him back. Please Cap. Get Tony back.” Peter’s voice is pleading and broken and Steve’s heart breaks for the kid. He nods and smiles.  
“I will kid. I promise. Take care of yourself Peter. I’ll be on the coms.”  
Before Peter can change his mind, Steve runs out to go meet the team at the ship. 

Peter kicks the floor. He was left at home...again. He watches as the ship takes off, before he sighs.  
“You did the right thing Peter,” Karen says. There’s a hint of amusement in the A.I.’s voice.   
“What do you mean?” Peter sighs.  
“You knew he just made that up,” Karen says.  
Peter nods, “Yeah I did. But I did it for Tony.”  
“Kid, you there?” There’s a crackle from the coms. That’s Steve.  
Peter pushes off the floor and slides over to the computer, hitting a button, “What’s up Doc?”  
“Thanks again Peter for staying. No one knows the science stuff better-”  
Peter chuckles, “Cut it out Steve, I know you were just saying that. Just know I didn’t stay for you, I stayed for Tony.”  
There’s silence.   
Then Steve lets out a little laugh and Peter can imagine him shaking his head in disbelief before raising his eyebrows in approval, “Fair enough Pete. Remind me not to underestimate you next time.”  
“I will,” Peter grins.   
“So where are we headed?” Steve asks, “Clint wants to know.”  
Peter types on the computer, “I’m transmitting coordinates now. He’ll have them in a second. I’ve shut down the compound and covered it up with the press already. Happy’s handling that side of things, and he’s scheduled a meeting with somebody high up in the government to inform them about Bucky. If things go South, he’ll come off clean. We’ve got a reporter on our side doing a general article on HYDRA’s tactics.”  
“That’s good to hear,” Steve says. “Clint says he’s got the coordinates. We’ll be on the coms if you need us. We’ll tell you when we get there. It should be a good hour or two so you may want to get some rest. We’ll be keeping you up tonight,” Cap suggests, “Oh, and Scott wants to talk to you.”  
Peter knit his eyebrows. Scott? “Okay,” he said.  
“Hey Peter, it’s Scott.”  
“Hi,” Peter says.  
“Look, I just want you to know...Cassie’s my little girl, and she’s a lot like you kid, she wants to help. I would be pretty dang proud of her if she did the right thing and stayed behind like I asked her to. Because I know she’d want to do exactly the opposite.”  
Peter purses his lips and smiles slightly, appreciating what Scott was saying, “Thanks Scott.”  
“No problem kid. Stay safe.”  
“I will,” Peter says, “Good luck.”   
Peter says his goodbyes and good lucks before ending the call and sinking back in his chair. “I’ll be here. Doing nothing.”  
Peter sighs and types in a bit more, locking the compound down. He was alone on it right now, and Peter didn’t feel like going into his room. He fingers his mask and puts his head in his hands on the table. It doesn’t take him long to fall asleep, and when he does, a few silent tears slide down his cheeks. 

Peter wakes up to a buzz and Cap’s voice. He blinks sleep out of his eyes and raises his head. It’s 7 o’clock and for some reason, Peter isn’t that hungry. He taps in to the com, “Yep?”  
“We’ve touched down Pete. Can you track Tony for us?”  
Peter is alert at once and his fingers fly furiously across the keyboard, “8 miles northeast of you. There looks to be a compound there. He’s probably inside. I’m guessing it’s HYDRA?”  
Steve mumbled under his breath and someone from the background called, “Language!”  
Peter didn’t get it, but howls of laughter from the ship meant it was an inside joke.   
“Did Stark tell everyone about that?” Steve demanded, but he was laughing too. Peter waited patiently until Steve remembered what he had been talking about, “Bucky had told me there were other facilities. When we get back, Tony and I are going to have to locate the other ones.”  
Peter appreciated the outcome he was already assuming. He sighs, “Keep me posted. Did anyone see you land?”  
“No,” Steve says, “Clint had the ship in stealth mode. No one knows we’re here.”  
“Well I would take advantage of the night. Just a thought,” Peter advised.   
Steve agreed, “Yeah. We’ll keep you posted.”  
Peter pursed his lips, “Good luck Cap,”  
“Thanks kid.” And with that, the room was silent again, and Peter was alone.

Tony crept forward. He had stayed hidden for the past couple hours, trying to send out distress signals and using the powerful satellites to make the source stronger. He hoped Peter got his message. The connection to Karen wasn’t working. Probably because FRIDAY was down, which kind of meant Tony couldn’t use his suit. And as Rumlow had proven, he was pretty useless without his suit. Nevertheless, Tony had faith that Peter was working to fix FRIDAY, if, that is, he had stayed behind like Tony requested. He doubted it. It wasn’t Peter’s fault. Tony had gotten himself into another mess and hated relying on the kid to bail him out. It had been the opposite before, just that one instance when Peter was stuck in the rubble, which caused Peter to feel like he had to pay him back for something. Unknown to Peter, that kid had done so much more than Tony could ever ask for. Just being a mentor to him was the reason Tony got out of bed in the morning. He could not bear if the kid got hurt or worse, because of him.   
Suddenly there was a crackle in his suit. Tony smacked the side of his head and the helmet flickered, blinking and Cap’s voice came through his suit.   
“Stark? Stark?”  
“Rogers!” Tony said relieved, “Cap- did Peter stay home, did he stay?” That was the only thought on his mind.  
“He’s at home, Tony,” Cap assured him.   
Tony breathed a sigh of relief. Everything was ok now. His son was safe.   
“How did you find me?” Tony asked incredulously.  
“Peter. He’s tracking you right now. That kid is a tech genius.”  
“Dang right,” Tony said proudly, “Where are you right now?”  
“About a mile out from you. We touched down in stealth mode, Clint’s in jet. He’s our way out, I’ve got him on standby. What’s your status?”  
Tony shifted uncomfortably. He crouched lower in his hiding spot, behind a door in a supply closet. He had already took out the cameras, so as far as he knew, no one had a clue he was here, “They took everyone but Bucky to the cells. I’ve got a hack on the security camera. I know where all of them are, except Bucky. They split, Cap, and I lost him. They took him somewhere with no cameras and I couldn’t follow.” Tony hoped Steve wasn’t mad at that.   
Tony breathed a sigh of relief as Cap just continued.   
“I’ll take Scott with me and we’ll go get Bucky,” Rogers said, “We’ll have the rest of us meet up with you and grab the team.”  
Tony bit his lip, “Rhodes doesn’t have his suit. It’s still at the compound, if it’s not blown up already. He’ll have to go on foot without a brace...I don’t know if he can make it.”  
“We’ll get him covered. Wanda can take care of that,” Steve said.  
“Sounds like a plan,” Tony said, “Well I’m in a supply room so if you want to come find me it’ll be like 10 minutes in a closet with the Avengers.”  
Steve chuckled, “Stay online, we’ll contact you again when we’ve breached and that’s when you can come out of hiding. I’m surprised you haven’t been found yet.”  
“You doubting my hide and seek skills Rogers? I’m hurt.”  
Steve chuckled on the other line and Tony had to smile.  
“That all sounds good. Stay safe, Cap,” Tony said.  
“Will do,” Steve agreed.  
“Steve, are you sure Peter’s at home?” Tony asked again.  
“Yes, Tony, I’m sure,” Steve said, and Tony could tell he was being serious.   
Tony breathed a sigh of relief, “Then just hurry up and get your butts over here.”  
“See you in a bit,” Steve said, “Out.”  
“Out,” Tony responded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter get 'hooked on a feeling' with some new characters ;) Stay tuned! Thank you for all the kudos and comments! Tell me your thoughts on the story, I'd love to hear them!


	9. Security Breach

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter meets the Guardians of the Galaxy and they agree to help save the Avengers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another update hopefully coming later today but for now, enjoy this one! Hope you like it! I love writing the guardian's dialogue :)

Peter woke up again, not because of Cap, but because of a security breach. He pulled on his mask and crept downstairs. 5 figures were standing by a door that Peter was 100% sure he locked.   
He blinked and narrowed his eyes, “Karen who are these people?”  
“I’m not sure. None of them are human.”  
Peter frowned, “Not human? So they’re aliens?”  
“One seems to be a raccoon, and there seems to be some sort of tree on his shoulder.”   
His A.I. seemed as confused as Peter felt.   
“A tree? What the heck is going on?” Peter hissed, creeping towards the stairs.   
“No distress signals emitted. They’re armed but not aimed. I would somewhat suggest you confront them.”  
“Well that’s SOMEWHAT comforting,” Peter grumbled, mimicking his A.I., before finally making up his mind and swinging to the lower level. He landed in a gymnast position and straightened. What the actual heck? Peter was seriously freaked out, and super confused at the same time. There was the man, and then a girl, then there was a racoon and a tree, and then a sort-of girl; she had weird glowing antennas. Lastly there was a big, shirtless, purple and red dude, who was looking around like he was in Disney World.   
“Um,” Peter just blinked at them, until all 5- or sorry 6 (the tree), all 6...things turned, raising their weapons.   
“Hey hey hey don’t shoot!” Peter said, trying to appear scared, but he was so ready to web all of them up in a split second before they could even blink. These people didn’t seem like serial killers.  
“Who are you? Are you the one who sent the distress signal?” One asked- the man, at least Peter thought it was a man. He had a weird mask on. Like an oxygen mask. Didn’t he know they were on Earth? He could breath here. And what was with the eyes? It had weird red eyes that glowed.  
“Distress signal?” Peter asked, before shrugging, “I mean, we’re in distress but I never sent a signal- did you break my door?” Peter said angrily, looking behind them at the blasted lock. There’s another thing he had to fix.   
“It was in our way,” the raccoon said.   
Peter did a double take. It had just talked. Unfortunately he said something stupid, and Peter was not in the mood for stupid.   
“That’s what doors do!” Peter spluttered, postponing the fact that the animal had spoke.  
The raccoon scoffs, “Whatever. And is it really ‘your’ door? Do you live here?”  
Peter stutters, “Yeah! I mean, sometimes. Mr. Stark made me a room-”  
“Stark!” The man with the mask snaps and points, “That’s the one who sent a distress call. Do you know him?”  
Peter nods, “Yeah he’s my...father?”   
Shoot, why did he say that? It had just slipped out. Peter’s face was red under the mask. On the other hand, he needed these people to trust him and that was a pretty good excuse. Plus, it was kinda true. He repeated his sentence with a little happiness and more confidence, “He’s my dad.”  
“And who are you?” The girl said. She was rather pretty, with dark hair and purple highlights on the tips. She was dressed for battle he guessed, with knives, leather pants and jacket, and laced combat boots. The biggest eye catcher was the fact that she was...green. That’s odd, Peter thought to himself.   
Peter narrowed his spider eyes and said, “Who are you?”  
The girl seemed to think it was fair that she answered first since they were intruding on his house. So she introduced them first, clearly respecting his authority, “My name is Gamora. That’s Drax, and Mantis, and Rocket and Groot.”  
“I am Groot,” the tree said.   
“I am Spiderman,” Peter said back to him, rather confused.   
The man stepped forward, “And I, am Star Lord. Legendary outlaw-”   
The green woman- Gamora, elbowed him in the ribs and he steered his sentence in an opposite direction. (Peter thinks there’s some sort of unspoken thing between the two of them, just by first impressions.)  
“But...I’m a good guy now, which, was what I was going to say Gamora if you had let me finish. We help people out of the goodness of our full hearts and maybe, we get some cheddar cheese for our efforts.” He sounded like a kid repeating something he was told to say, at least until the last bit about money.  
Gamora rolled her eyes and shakes her head.  
“Star Lord?” Peter laughed, “That’s a dumb name.”  
“So’s Spiderman,” Starlord scoffed.   
“Hey no it’s not,” Peter shot back, frowning. Then he asked, “Wait so are you guys, like, from outer space?” He couldn’t hide the eagerness in his voice.  
“Yes. We are the Guardians of the Galaxy,” the weird antena girl- Mantis?- said. She tried to smile and failed.   
“Why haven’t the Avengers met you yet?” Peter asked before he raises his eyebrows (not that they can tell underneath his mask), “Do you know Thor?”  
“Is Thor someone we should kill?” the big guy, Drax, asked excitedly.   
“No,” Peter shook his head, “he’s a good guy. Like the Avengers.”  
Drax scowled, “Who is Avengers? Can we kill him?”  
Peter shook his head, confused, “No. They’re also good guys, and girls. They’re a group. They’re my friends.”  
“Are you an Avenger?” Star Lord asked.   
“Basically,” Peter said. He shrugged, “Yes.” (Hey, these people were from outer space, Peter could be a temporary Avenger right now.)  
“I am Groot,” the tree said again.   
Peter cocked his head, “Yeah I know. You told me.”  
“No that’s-” the raccoon started to say something before he knit his eyebrows and glared at Peter, “Why are you looking at me weird? Do I have something on my face?”  
Peter shifted his feet, “It’s just that on Earth, um, raccoons don’t talk. They eat trash and stuff.”  
“Trash panda,” Star Lord coughed.   
The raccoon gave him a glare. Peter was so confused. What was going on?  
“I haven’t been here in a long time,” Star Lord said, finally taking off his mask by pushing something behind his ear. It melted back from his face very much like Tony’s suit did. The motion reminded him from Tony, which meant another stab to the heart. But this was not Tony; ‘Star Lord’ was a middle aged man, with sideburns and a goatee. His face was smug and cocky. Peter couldn’t decide if he liked him yet.   
“You’re from Earth?” Peter asked him, mildly surprised.  
“Uh,” the man scoffed, “I’m from Missouri.”  
“That’s Earth,” Peter knit his eyebrows, “That’s in the United States. We’re in New York right now.”   
“I know,” the man said, unconvincingly.  
Gamora brought them back on track, “So who is in distress? The building looks like it was attacked. Are we too late?”  
Peter sighs, hesitates, then pulls off his mask. They all step back.  
“How old are you?” Star Lord asks. Peter could tell he tried so hard not to be rude, but it came across rude anyway, “Sorry.”  
“I’m 15,” Peter glares, “Almost 16.”  
“What’s your name?” Gamora asks.  
“Spiderman,” Peter says quickly, before explaining, “You’re one of the few non-Avengers to see me without the mask so I can’t really give you a name. Not yet at least. I really shouldn’t have even taken off the mask, but I figured you'd be leaving once you’re done helping so it doesn’t matter. And I want you to trust me.”   
He looks at them, twisting his mask between his fingers, scared he made the wrong decision. “You are helping, right?” He asked quietly.  
“Yes,” they all murmured, assuringly.  
“Heck yeah we are kid. Just a question, side note, are you rich?” Star Lord asked.   
“Um, me? No. But Tony is. He’s a billionaire,” Peter answered, confused.   
“Are we too late?” Gamora asks again, getting rather annoyed by the tangents.  
Peter shrugged, “Kinda? The building got bombed by HYDRA. They took half the team and Tony Stark stowed away on their ship. The other half of the team left to go find them, but I stayed behind because I had to run the compound and reboot FRIDAY.”  
“Who’s that?” Star Lord asked, “Like the day of the week?”  
“Can we-” Drax started.  
“No,” Peter said quickly, “You can’t kill her. She’s Tony’s A.I. She’s a computer. FRIDAY stands for something. I think it’s like female replacement digital…I don’t know the rest.”  
“Oh,” Drax looks mildly disappointed that there would be no killing involved.  
“So your father, Tony Stark, is the one who sent the distress signal?” Star Lord asked.  
Peter shrugged, “I guess so.”   
The fact that Tony had done that sends his Spider senses tingling. There is yet another reason why Peter should have gone with the rest of the team. He curses himself for being so mature. Then he licks his lips, “The rest of the team is on their way to help them out. I have them on comms,” Peter tapped his ear, “I haven’t heard any bad news. Come on, I’ll show you.”

Clint didn’t notice the movements in the grass behind the jet. He definitely didn’t notice the hundreds of guns being trained at every spot in a big circle around him. How could he? They were all disguised in the high grass.

Cap didn’t understand that they were walking into a trap. He just thought it was odd there weren’t as many people to knock out on their way in, and how the cameras just stopped working. How could he? He figured it was Tony working his tech skills from the inside. He also didn’t notice that his comms had been off, and that the reports he was sending to Peter hadn’t been going through. He and his team were being slowly isolated.

Tony was getting suspicious of why no one had found him yet. He hoped it was just his luck, but he wasn’t so sure. He was worried about Peter. If that kid had stayed home, how long would it be before he grew tired of giving directions? Tony couldn’t risk his kid’s life. He hated the feeling of never seeing him again, but what he hated more was the feeling of living in a world without Peter in it. Tony tried to shake those thoughts away. He would see his son again- he had to. Besides, had his signal sent? If it had, he wondered who received it. He had no way of knowing.   
FRIDAY was still down.   
Iron Man was still useless.

Bucky was in pain, strapped to the old chair he had hated for so many years, hearing the words that haunted his nightmares get whispered in his ears. Slowly, he changed until he was no longer Bucky. He was the Winter Soldier.   
And he was going to kill the Avengers.   
Every last one.  
Starting with Captain America.

Karen was trying her best to reboot FRIDAY.   
68%...  
69%...  
A.I. couldn’t really be worried. Somehow, Karen was worried. She was worried it wasn’t going fast enough. She was right. It wasn’t.

They were all  
running   
out   
of   
time. 

Peter got the Guardians into the lab with a little coaxing and he pointed to the blips on the screen- wait, what? Peter did a double take. The blips were gone.   
Peter put a hand to his ear, “Steve? Cap, do you copy? Hello?” Peter tried not to panic, and failing miserably, “Karen! When did lose signal?” He sinks into the seat and starts typing really fast, rebooting, reloading, and testing signals.  
His A.I. sounded confused, “I...I’m not sure Peter. I can’t get any readings on them whatsoever, or information of when I lost the signal. Like someone deleted their history.”  
Peter bit his lip, “Can you track Tony or Steve?”  
“No. Neither Peter.”  
“Why?” He demanded, his heartbeat speeding up.  
“I’m not sure Peter. I’m being blocked.”  
“Dangit. Ok, um, patch through to the jet.”   
“On it,” Karen said.  
He waited before locking into coms again, “Clint? Clint do you copy? Clint!”  
Static.  
“It sends through but there’s confirmation of reception. It seems we’ve lost all contact due to restrictions. I’m being kicked out of all coms. I can’t do anything.”  
Peter slammed his hand down on the desk. It was shaking and he gripped the edge of the table hard. His suit hid his knuckles that Peter was sure were ghost white. He saw the Guardians behind him getting slightly worried, shifting their weight from foot to foot.   
Peter ignored them and focused, blinking and gripping his temples to concentrate, “Karen, um, ok, give me security cameras. Anything you can from the facility. Anything.”  
“That I can do. Pulling up unrestricted feed and cameras.”  
4 screens popped up in mid air. One was of Tony in some sort of closet and Peter had to breath a sigh of relief. He hadn’t seen Tony since he left to go to the store, and even if it was through a camera, Peter was glad to see him and know he was ok.   
“Is that Stark?” Gamora asked.  
Peter nodded, “Yeah.”  
“I can see the resemblance,” Drax nodded, “he is your father.”  
Peter nodded, “Yeah he is.” He wasn’t going to argue with the big dude.   
Peter tore his eyes away from the image, blinking away tears and focused on the next one. It was Cap and the team, they had split up and were hurrying down 2 hallways- one camera on Steve and Scott, one camera on Wanda and Falcon. The other camera was on the outside, from a watch tower probably, and it was deserted. No backup was seen heading into the building to fight his friends. In fact, there was nothing. It was clear, silent, and empty. Cap must have done a good job. Peter sat back, relieved, before everything clicked into place, and Peter’s smile disappeared. He frowned, his eyes widening, before his heart dropped.  
Peter shot up straight in his chair, “Karen, please tell me these cameras are down. Or something. Why is it so empty? I lost comms too...no-”  
“These cameras are live.” Karen’s voice was equally as scared.  
“No, no, no, no!” Peter yelled before turning around in his chair, staring at the Guardians who were surprised at his sudden burst. Peter cried out, stuttering, “They’re walking into a trap! HYDRA has eyes on all of them, they’re just waiting. They’ve probably got eyes on Clint too! And they’ve blocked the comms and any type of communication so I can’t warn them. I can’t…” Peter ran a hand through his messy hair, on the verge of tears. He looked up at Star Lord who was closest to him.   
The man had a concerned gaze and he shook his head, “Kid, slow down.”  
Peter shook his head, blinking back tears, “HYDRA has access to all these cameras. They’re walking into a trap. And HYDRA’s going to blow up the ship and trap everyone else. And, oh God- Tony has no suit-” Peter spun towards the computer, his voice cracking.  
“Karen, is FRIDAY up yet?”  
“I’m afraid not. I’m at 71%.”  
Peter turned around to face the Guardians again before he sank in his chair with his head in his hands, “I should have gone with him. I would have figured it out. This is all my fault and now...oh no...Tony...and Steve...but Tony...”   
Peter almost felt like he was going to have another panic attack.   
Star Lord put his hand on Peter’s shoulder and he looked up into the man’s eyes when he said, “Hey kid, it’s ok. This wasn’t your fault. Just tell us what to do,” he says gently.   
Peter looked up bleary eyed and forced his composure to come back to him, “We uh,” Peter stuttered, “we have to help them. Do you have a ship or something?”  
Star Lord nodded, “Best in the galaxy.”  
“Let’s hope so. We need to go to Canada,” Peter said, getting to his feet.  
Drax pointed at him, “Is that what you’re wearing?”  
Peter looked down at his dusty and dirty suit and was about to grumble, ‘yes’, before he froze and looked at the blank wall.   
He grinned slightly, despite the circumstances, “No.”

A minute later, Peter took a deep breath within the suit. He held up out his arms, admiring the shining armor. It was like getting his first pair of light-up shoes. Peter grinned and wiggled his fingers. It fit perfectly and Peter felt some of his fear and sadness wash away for a bit.  
“Karen you there?” He asked.  
“I’m here Peter. Might I say that Tony would be very proud.” Karen’s voice also sounded cheerful.  
Peter smiled sadly, “I know he would.”  
He walked over to the mirror and inspected his new suit. His mask receded back to his neck; Peter didn’t even half to take it off. He lifted his arms again, inspecting them in awe. Then Peter looked back at the mirror. He could do this. Taking a deep breath, the mask came up over his face and Peter swung down the hall to meet the Guardians outside. 

Happy was overwhelmed by all the questions. There were so many pens thrust high into the air, so many cameras, and so many reporters, all pushing one another to get a front spot. All of their shouts merged into one in his ears. It was just one annoying ring.   
“Is it true the compound was bombed?”  
“Yes,” he said quickly, “but any attempt at filming will result with Stark himself suing you and we will most likely blow up whatever contraption you’re using to do so. If you post on the internet we can find out who posted what- as you all know we have friends in very high places. So just, don’t film please. Thank you.”  
Another question, “Who was behind the attack?”  
“We have leads to believe it’s HYDRA,” he said, “They were after Bucky Barnes, a victim from their Winter Soldier Operation. There will be an article answering all of your questions on that. It’s coming out next month.”  
Another pen shoots up, a nice blue one. The question is, “Where is he now?”  
Happy paused, and for once in his lifetime, the whole press room was quiet.  
Happy took a breath and looked up from his note cards, “Barnes as well as some other members of the Avengers are at a location unknown at this period in time. Tony Stark stowed away on the HYDRA ship, acting as a GPS for the rescue-op to go off of. That team led by Steve Rogers is on it’s way to get them now. That’s all the information I have at this moment. I’ll let you know more as it comes to my attention. Thank you, no more questions.”   
The room exploded in questions and yells, but Happy simply turned his back to all the pens and walked out the door. 

Peter Quill winked at Gamora as he got into the front seat, “Saving the Avengers this time.”  
“You just found out who they are two seconds ago,” Gamora rolled her eyes.  
Star Lord shrugged, then he looked over his shoulder, “Is the kid in yet?”  
“No, not yet-” Gamora stopped as Spider Man landed on the ground behind the jet and walked in slowly, “Now he is.”  
Peter looked behind him again and saw the kid, just in a different suit. This one wasn’t spandex and covered in soot in dust it was shiny and new, with iron armor. Not bad kid, not bad.  
Peter raised his eyebrows and gave a sound of approvement, “That’s a cooler suit then the last one.”  
“Thanks I know,” the boy said, “I made it with…” the mask curled back on it’s own, revealing the kid’s sad face, “I made it with Tony.”   
Gamora was looking at Peter with raised eyebrows. She nodded her head toward the kid. Peter realized she wanted him to reassure him.   
Star Lord sighed and looked pitifully at the boy, “Hey kid? We’ll get them all back. Stark too, ok?”  
Spider Man nodded slowly, “Yeah. Ok.”  
“Peter, take us out of here,” Gamora said to Star Lord.  
“What? I can’t fly-” The kid started to say, looking confused before Drax shoved him into a seat and closed the harnesses around him.   
Peter Quill whooped and closed the back door to his ship, before firing the engines, “Canada, is it?”  
The kid nodded, “Yeah.”  
“Canada here we come,” He announced. “We’ll be there in,” Peter checked the readings, “a half an hour.”  
He took off across the sky. 

About 5 minutes later, Star Lord unhooked his seatbelt and took Groot’s game from him, “Groot seriously, you’ll rot your brain.”  
“I am Groot,” Groot whined, crossing his arms.   
“If Quill has to do that again I will break that thing,” Rocket threatened from the front.   
Mantis was sitting next to the kid who was looking around in awe at the spaceship.  
Peter puffs up his chest a little, leaning against the wall and asks him, “This your first time on a spaceship kid?”  
“Yeah kinda, I mean there’s the Queen jet but that doesn’t count I never went in the air. I’ve been in planes but this is so much better…” he trailed off and continued to stare around.   
Peter grinned, and then was about to turn away when he saw Mantis. It took Peter a second to register that she was crying, and he focussed on the hand that was discreetly up against the kid’s arm. The kid noticed a second after he did, following Quill’s gaze and yanking his arm away, stuttering to Mantis, “What the heck were you doing?”   
He too noticed the big tears falling down her cheeks.  
“She was reading you,” Peter explained before asking gently, “Are you ok, kid?”  
Spider Man shakes his head, “No. No, I’m not.”  
Mantis was still crying and she looks sadly at the kid who was staring at the both of them. Then she turned to Quill, “He feels pain, sadness, and loss.”  
“Yeah I do,” the kid spoke defensively. His voice was weak and it broke slightly, but it was still angry, “Half of my family just got taken including Tony, and then the other half left to go find them. As for me, I was stuck there, until now, but still...” He rubbed his head, exhausted, “I texted my aunt and she’s probably worried sick, but I can’t go back and Tony had promised he would never do this to me again. He promised…”   
He trailed off, clearing his throat and going silent, seeming a little angry with himself that he had vented with strangers. Gosh, he didn’t even know the kid’s name yet.  
Peter sat down next to him, “Do you, uh, have a mom?”  
The kid should his head, “Both of my parents died when I was young.”  
“Both of your- wait, I thought you said Tony was your father?” Peter asked, confused.  
The kid sighed, “He’s not my biological father, but he’s the closest thing I’ve got. I slip up and call him that sometimes, but it’s...it’s true. He can’t die, he just can’t. I can’t lose him, I’ve already lost too many people…” the kid trailed off again, as if used to people not understanding.  
Peter could totally understand though, and he decided to tell the kid he did to maybe lift his spirits. “I get it kid, more than you can imagine. I had to kill my father because he was an immortal jerk who wanted to take over the world. Typical,” Peter shrugged.  
“My mom died of cancer because of my father, so I really didn’t have a good family. But there was this one guy his name was Yondu. He was a really annoying blue dude with a arrow that he controlled by whistling. No dental concern though. He was a puzzle,” Peter smiled remembering Yondu’s rough voice.  
“He uh, picked me up on Earth and kinda saved my life in a way but he was the closest thing I had to father. And he…he died saving me.” Peter blinked away the flashbacks and spiraled back to reality. He was surprised he had said so much to this kid.   
The boy was staring at him, listening intently, not sure what to make of their stories. Peter realized that he and the kid were actually similar. Very similar. Then Peter realized it was just him and the kid now; everyone else had gone down a level to give them some privacy.  
“Wow,” the boy said finally, and he seemed to relax a bit.  
Peter tried to change the subject so he asked, “You said you had an aunt, do you have an uncle you can call- or not, sorry,” Peter quickly covered up his mistake when tears started to form in the kid’s eyes.  
The boy waved him off, “My uncle um, he-” the kid looked down at his feet, “I had just gotten my powers that month, being Spiderman I mean, and I was at the store. There was a robber, he stole a pack of soda or something, nothing big, and the cashier had pissed me off right before that. I could have webbed him, but I was just, I don’t know what I was thinking, I just didn’t-” Peter shakes his head and hurries the story up, “I walk outside and across the street a little ways, and he’s there on the ground bleeding and the ambulance couldn’t get there in time… We go to court and it’s that same guy I had let get away. Apparently the guy had a gun and my Uncle Ben had tried to stop him. And he’s just lying there and there was so much blood and I-”   
“I get it kid, you don’t need to...you don’t...” Peter stopped him. He didn’t want the kid beating himself up, even though he figures he probably had ever since it happened.   
The boy nodded, rubbing his nose. He leaned back in the seat, “I just...I can’t lose anyone else. Especially not Tony. I can’t lose another dad. He’s...he’s everything to me. I can’t lose him.” His voice was small, no longer the confident and outgoing voice Peter had first heard when they met.   
Surprisingly, Peter found his voice to be similar, “You won’t kid. I promise. We’ll get them all back. It will work out. This is what I do for a living.”  
The kid smiled, looking up at Peter, “Thanks.”  
“Do you mind me asking what your name is? You know, now that we know each other a little better?” Peter asked slowly.  
The kid shrugged after a second of hesitation, “Yeah I guess, uh, I’m Peter.”  
“No way!” Peter laughed.  
Peter looked confused, “What?”  
“That’s my name. Peter Quill, Star Lord, but I guess you can call me Peter- that’s so cool!”  
The kid, Peter, smiled, “Woah really? That is cool.” Then he lowered his eyes, catching sight of the Zune on Peter’s belt. The kid laughed a bit. It was a young laugh, full of life, and Peter liked it.  
The kid pointed to it, “You have one of those? Wow.”  
Peter admired his Zune, speaking smugly, “I know right, it’s so cool.”  
“It’s so old dude,” the kid shook his head, “No one has one anymore!” The kid laughed at him, looking at Star Lord like he was an idiot.   
Peter knit his eyebrows, “What do you mean? There’s over 200 songs on this thing!”  
Peter raised an eyebrow back, “Yeah that’s nothing. My phone plays millions. In whatever order I want.”  
“What?” Peter widened his eyes, “You’re kidding. Any song you want?”  
The kid nodded, finding this amusing, which it probably was for him, “Yeah.”  
Peter asked again, completely shell struck, “A million?”  
Spider Man nodded, smiling, “Many more than a million.”   
“That’s insane,” Peter muttered. Suddenly his Zune wasn’t that cool, which he was kinda disappointed about.   
“After all of this is over, and if you decide to hang out a bit before you blast off again, I could get you one. Tony has a lot of them just lying around that I fixed up-” The kid stopped, blinking, and Peter knew he was thinking that they might not win, and he might not get to see the closest thing he had to a father again.  
Peter looked the kid dead in the eye, “Hey. We’re getting them back, okay? I told you, this is my profession.”  
“Did you tell him about the dance off to save the universe, Quill?” Drax says loudly as he came into view, walking up the stairs. Leave it to Drax to ruin a moment.  
Peter shakes his head, “No we don’t need to-” He didn’t want that to be the first thing the kid heard after he had just told him he was going to fight an organization that beat people who were said to be unbeatable, one of which who happened to be the kid’s father figure.  
“Like in Footloose, the movie?” The kid asks.  
Peter snaps his head back to look at the kid, “Yes exactly like Footloose! You know that movie?”  
“Yeah, I watch a lot of 80’s movies, and movies in general. I make references all the time. Tony hates it,” The kid says, laughing slightly.  
“Well I won’t hate it! I’ll enjoy it,” Quill grinned, “The ones I get at least.”  
The kid raised his eyebrows, “Hey you won’t be as bad as Steve. He missed a lot when he was under the ice. All of the references just, woosh, go right by him.” Peter waved his hand with the ‘woosh’ making it more dramatic.  
“Who’s Steve?” Quill asked the kid.  
“I am Groot!” Groot said, swinging himself up the stairs with his roots. Quill guessed everyone was coming up now.  
“Captain America,” the kid answers Quill quickly before he frowns, looking at Groot, “I know Groot. Why does the tree keep saying his name? He already told me.”  
Peter never got a chance to answer the kid.   
“That's all he says,” Rocket says, his triangle face appeared over the steps. He, too, was hopping up the stairs, “I and am and Groot. Specifically in that order. But he could be cussing at you or saying he loves you. It’s all in the tone.”  
“Oh,” Peter looked a little confused but he shrugged.   
Gamora walked up the stairs too and Quill jumped up gleefully, “Gamora! That kid has the same name as me! We have to think up a code name for him, like I’ll be Peter and he can be P2 or Peter squared or-”  
“Or we’ll just call you Quill and call him Peter,” Gamora said dryly, walking past him and smiling at the kid.   
“But that’s not as cool,” Quill whined. “Fine. But you’ve got to admit, that’s pretty awesome that we both are named Peter.”  
“Someone has the same name as you. Big deal,” she said, but she cracked a smile. Then she turned to the kid, “These are some of the biggest idiots in the galaxy. I’m warning you.”   
Then she shrugged, “But they’re family so what can you do?”   
The kid smiles shyly, running a hand through his messy hair with his iron fingers. “So what are your powers?” he asks Drax.  
“My vengeance fills me with rage and thirst for blood to to defeat my enemies,” Drax roars happily, raising his fists.   
“Um, ok?” Peter says.   
“He takes things very literally,” Peter wanted the boy, “So some stuff goes over his head. You’ll get used to it.”  
“Nothing goes over my head Quill. I told you I will catch it!” Drax says angrily.  
“My point is made,” Star Lord says, sighing.   
The kid smirks.   
“So these people we’re after,” Rocket asks, yawning, “what do they do?”  
“They kidnap people and brainwash them into evil super soldiers. They infiltrate organizations set on finding peace. They won’t hesitate to kill any one of you,” Peter answered sadly; the kid’s tone was firm. Then he looked up, “Which reminds me. Bucky, a guy with a metal arm, Cap’s friend? Well, he got taken and I am ready to bet my life savings that they’ve already turned him back into the Winter Soldier. Bucky got brainwashed a long time ago and turned into one of the killing machines. But he’s good on the inside when he’s Bucky but they can turn him with these words from a notebook. So if he comes at you with his machine gun, don’t let him kill you, but don’t hurt him.”  
Drax coughed, “Don’t kill him?”  
“Don’t,” the kid repeated forcefully, “kill him.”  
“And once we get all of your friends what do we do?” Mantis asked.  
Peter shrugged, “Either Cap or Tony will take charge so listen to them I guess. I could probably hook up your comms once FRIDAY takes down the system. Speaking of that, Karen, how is FRIDAY doing?”  
“Karen? Who’s-” Quill started to ask when a woman’s voice came from Peter’s suit.   
“Not yet Peter, I’m at 80%.”  
Everyone jumped.   
“Where is this intruder?” Drax gripped his knife.  
“She’s my A.I., Karen,” the kid explained. “She’s great.”  
“Hello everyone.”  
“Hi,” Quill said, slightly in awe.  
Peter shrugged, “Karen is working on rebooting FRIDAY and once that happens, I think we’ll be good. She can take out cameras, lights, pretty much anything HYDRA has access to, she’ll take it over. But she got damaged in the fight so my A.I. is repairing her. Unfortunately,” the kid sighed, “without FRIDAY, Tony’s suit won’t work, so getting FRIDAY up is my number one priority. I don’t know how it’s all gonna work, but hopefully when I hook you guys up with comms, someone will let us know.”  
“We’ll go with it,” Quill assured the kid, “Winging it is kinda what we do.”  
“That’s right,” Drax said firmly.  
Quill looked weakly over at Peter who’s face showed utter acceptance of failure and pure downright disappointment.   
“We’ll make it work,” Quill said quickly before the kid could get any more discouraged. He winked at Peter who cheered up a bit.   
“We always do,” Gamora says, patting Quill’s chest. He couldn’t tell if she was sarcastic or not. Oh, he also had a question for her. Star Lord picked up a grenade from the rack by his side, “Gamora, question, are these the blow up moons grenades or the popcorn machines things I made because I want to put some in a pouch and have it on my belt but I don’t want to-”  
“I don’t know Peter, why don’t you pull the pin and find out?” She suggested, sharpening her sword.  
“Um, because then that could maybe be bad?” He answered, “Duh.”  
Gamora sighs, rolling her eyes before she swings herself up to the cockpit and sits down in her seat, draping her legs over the side and clicking on the computer in front of her.   
The kid looks at Peter, then Gamora before asking, “Are you two-”  
“No!” Gamora calls.   
Quill winks, “Yes.”   
The kid grins.  
“No!” Gamora repeats more forcefully.  
“It’s an unspoken thing,” Quill explains.   
The kid nods, grinning, “I figured.”  
Gamora’s voice is monotone, because she’s said it so many times, “There is no unspoken thing!”  
“Of course there isn’t,” Star Lord explains, “Or it would be a spoken thing! Catch 22 my friend. Win win.”  
The kid laughs again. Gamora groans from the front seat. Mantis smiles.   
Drax shakes his head, “I do not agree with this. Peter is a dancer, Gamora is-”  
“Is not a dancer, I know Drax! It’s just as interesting as the first million times you’ve told me,” Quill drones.   
“For once, I agree with Drax. For once,” Gamora calls.   
Quill waves her off and is about to talk to the kid again when Groot kicks him in the leg and points to his chair where Rocket is lounging.  
“Rocket, get out of my seat!” Star Lord yells.   
“Your majesty!” Rocket called from up front, “We’re here moron. Get your unspoken thing up here. Quill, land this piece of junk, and let’s kick some HYDRA butt.”


	10. Hooked on a Feeling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cap and Scott find Bucky...but is it still Bucky?  
> Tony is determined to get home to Peter, even with a failing suit, Sam and Wanda reunite with Vision, and the Guardians of the galaxy prepare to save the day, with only 53% of a plan. But hey, it's better than 52%.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2nd update as promised! Hope you all enjoy :)

Steve breaks open the door, slamming into a HYDRA operative with his shield. It’s good to have his old shield back. He spent too long without it, but he left it for the right reason. Scott is at his side, shrinking every so often to throw a guy into a wall or pull their feet out from under them, but running as a normal sized human. Steve hated the fact that the team had split up, but they knew it was their best option. Steve could hear Bucky’s yells from down the hall and he got angrier as they got closer. HYDRA wouldn’t get away with what they had to done to his friend this time. Steve hit his shield against another lock and kicked the door open. Scott jumped forward, shrinking, and his tiny form hit the guy straight in the throat, causing him to choke before Steve threw his shield at his gut, knocking him flat on his stomach. Scott appeared next to him, pushing the button on his thumb. Steve could tell he was grinning underneath the Ant-Man mask.  
“We make a good team,” Scott commented.  
“We do Lang, we do,” Steve smiled, but through his grin, there was this horrible feeling in his stomach that he could not shake. It shouldn’t have been this easy. Steve had saw what had happened to the compound, and none of that same intensity had showed yet. Cap understood the whole landing part; he had to hand it to Clint for thinking of stealth mode, and the trek through the high grass to keep them out of sight was a good decision, as was using the cover of night. But Steve had expected way more guards and much more security. They were holding the Avengers in this facility for gosh’s sake. Steve was pleased that things were going as planned, but he couldn’t help but think that things were going too good. Steve and Scott wander down the dark hallway, Cap’s shield out in front of them. Scott was walking backwards, keeping an eye out behind them. The hallway narrowed and then expanded. Lights were flickering and there was a dimly lit room in front of them. The door looked broken, the electronic lock pad steaming, and dented. Steve froze, and Scott bumped into him, turning.   
In front of them was room with a chair in the center. The metal clasps for arms and legs had been broken off and were laying shattered on the floor. The chair itself was bent, the armrests dangling by a piece of fabric. The computers around them were smashed to bits and Steve saw HYDRA agents knocked out or dead on the floor. A small figure in the corner caught his eye and Steve immediately ran over, setting his shield down, “Buck!”  
Bucky was trembling, his back up against the wall in the corner, his eyes squeezed shut. Steve put out his hand and clasped his friend by the shoulders, trying to get him to his feet.   
“Bucky come on, you’ve got to get up-” Steve said, groaning as Bucky went limp in his arms.   
“The words,” Bucky mumbled.  
“What about them?” Steve asked, as they stumbled forward. He bent slightly to grab his shield.  
Bucky’s voice sounded different. Darker. “They already said them.”  
Steve couldn’t lunge away fast enough. Scott cried out, not knowing what to do. The metal arm connected with Cap’s chest, sending him flying. Steve crashed into the wall before slamming into the ground on his stomach, groaning. He looked up from the ground. The Winter Soldier turned with hatred in his eyes. Steve should have known. Even Bucky’s voice had changed. This was not his best friend anymore. The door behind them that Steve had thought was broken shut and all the lights came on.   
A voice came over the speaker in the corner, “Captain America. How nice of you to drop in.”  
A computer came on to his right and Steve watched Bucky out of the corner of his eyes before he moved over to look what was on it. Scott was at his side, but keeping a firm eye on Bucky so Steve could look at the security cameras that popped up on the screen. One was of Tony, hiding in the closet he had said he was. The other was of their invisible jet, with guns pointed at it from all angles.   
“Stark,” Steve gasped, “Clint.”  
“He has no clue. His readings show he’s still undetected.” The speaker boomed.  
Steve raised his hand to his ear, but all he got was static.  
“Don’t bother. All of your comms have been disabled.”  
Steve feels his heart sink deep in his chest. He can’t warn Wanda or Falcon because comms were down, he couldn’t warn Clint, and- Peter. What about Peter? The kid would figure it out, probably ask Karen to run security footage and come straight over to warn them, but he too would be walking into a trap. There was nothing Steve could do about it. Tony had no suit and-   
The last security footage camera popped up on screen, covering the other two. It was of Wanda and Falcon, heading down the hallway.  
HYDRA had eyes on all of his friends. Steve had dragged them into the devil’s lair, and now he had just possibly gotten the other Avengers killed, Tony killed, and Peter walking into a death trap if he came looking for them. Steve had failed. For the first time in a long time, he was speechless, accepting the inevitable that they had lost. He had lost.   
“It was a set up,” Steve breaths, before repeating it louder, “It was a set up!” Steve yells, slamming his fist into the computer, breaking the screen.   
“Well you are smart Captain Rogers. Enjoy your fun with Buchanan Barnes. And don’t try breaking the door. It will take you more time than you have.”  
Steve glares at the speaker before looking back at his old friend, corrupted by these evil people.  
“Bucky this isn’t you-”  
“I’m not Bucky!” The Winter Soldier yells. He goes to pick up Cap’s shield but it moves away from him. Steve realizes Ant-Man is no longer next to him Scott becomes real sized, holding the red white and blue shield, behind the Winter Soldier. He kicks Bucky firm in the back before pushing him to the side. He runs back across the room, returning to Cap’s side to give him his shield, “I believe this is yours Captain America.”  
Steve takes his shield, nodding at Lang gratefully. Bucky gets up and snarls at him.   
Scott seems nervous. ‘What’s the plan boss,” he asks.   
Steve speaks firmly, “We can’t kill him. But we can’t let him kill us.”  
“Don’t kill him, don’t get killed. Got it,” Scott repeats, shrinking and running at Bucky.   
Cap raises his glare and throws his shield with all of his might at Bucky. His old friend catches it, like Cap expected, but Buck doesn’t expect Cap to launch himself forward and kick the shield into his chest full force. Bucky stumbles back and Scott hits the back of his knee, causing him to fall. Steve picks up his shield again and rolls, bringing it up over himself to block a punch that would have hit him right across the head. Scott shrinks again and lunges to get a punch in but he does it when Bucky is staring right at him and the Winter Soldier bats Ant-Man across the room.   
Scott hits the back wall, making a tiny dent before becoming full size and collapsing to the floor.  
“Lang!” Steve yells, hitting Bucy across the face with his shield before punching him in the stomach.  
“I’m ok Cap. Ow,” is the response. “I’m good.”   
“Lang try and open the door!” Steve yells. He’s got Bucky in a headlock. Scott nods and runs for it. Bucky strains against Steve and Cap groans, gritting his teeth to keep him still.  
“James!” Steve yells, “Buck it’s me! These people got in your head again!”  
“Shut up!” Bucy roars, bringing his elbow into Steve’s stomach but Steve doesn’t let go just yet. He can take a few more hits.  
“My mom’s name,” he groans, “was Sarah. I used to wear- newspapers, on my shoes...Buck it’s me!” Steve can’t take any more direct hits and he pushes Bucky away.  
Scott yells, “Cap there’s...there’s a hole-”  
Steve ducks a swipe and waves his hand, “Get out of here! Go!”  
“I can’t leave you Cap!” Scott says, and to prove his point he slams into Bucky from across the room just as the Winter Soldier was about to hit Steve across the face with his metal arm.   
“You have to get help!” Cap shouts, swiping Bucky’s legs from under him.  
“There is no help!” Lang shouts back, shrinking to dodge a punch and flipping Bucky on his back. He was right, Cap realizes.   
Steve winces as he’s forced to kick Bucky across the face to stop him from completely squashing Scott. He hates fighting his best friend, but the eyes staring back at him as they fight aren’t Bucky’s. They belong to an enemy.

Tony finally realizes it’s time for him to leave the closet. He hates just sitting here and doing nothing. He had lost signal with Rogers a while ago, and he was trying to keep his hopes up and not think about possible things that could have gone wrong. Tony checks his suit power, 39%, and still no FRIDAY. He had a backup A.I., that couldn’t talk, but gave him the basic functions of his suit, like minimal flight and small blasts. But without FRIDAY Tony basically had rocket boots and a Star Wars blaster. Wow, Peter had really rubbed off on him. To pass the time, (because Cap had told him to stay put until he contacted him again), Tony had been watching footage he had saved to his suit’s display.   
Tony just finished one of them.   
His son’s hair was curly and swept over his face as Tony got him a blanket. The kid’s eyes closing, his form sinking into the mattress. Tony covered him blanket with a blanket and smiled, thinking how lucky he was to have such a good kid...how lucky he was to have a kid like Peter.   
“Mr. Stark?” Peter said sleepily.  
The boy’s slurred voice echoed to his helmet and Tony bit his lip at its innocence and pureness. Stark leaned back into the cabinet he was up against, closing his eyes, pretending he was back home, a non-blown up home, hearing his kid’s voice.   
Tony’s words crackled over his speakers, “Yeah kid, it’s me, I’ll see you tomorrow alright Pete?” Tony remembers brushing the hair away from Peter’s eyes and smiling again.   
But before he could leave though, the kid had one more thing to say.   
“Thanks Dad.”  
The recording ended and Tony opened his eyes, blinking, the world shifting to the boring dark storage closet.   
Tony finds once he starts thinking about Peter, he doesn’t stop. He can’t imagine how the kid must have felt, when FRIDAY connected that call to them.

Tony remembered dodging bullets and screaming over the roar in his ears, “Connect to Avengers Audi! Get Peter and Clint and-” A huge bomb blew up the building’s wall next to him and Tony pitches forward in the sky before regaining his stability, his hands extended. Luckily he doesn't have to re-clarify; FRIDAY knows him and she’s already dialing.  
“You say it FRIDAY, I don’t want Peter hearing all of this-” He gasps, shooting missiles at the nearest group of HYDRA operatives.  
“Message boss?” FRIDAY’s voice is breaking and he knows he has only a minute, maybe less. She had told him her systems were failing about 8 minutes ago, and he was doing all he could to keep her functioning.  
Tony’s throat was dry, “Tell them to come back, tell Peter to come back,” Tony knows it’s only so long he can hold these enemies, and as much as he hates putting his son in danger, there are some Avengers in the car with him, and he could use some more of them right now. Tony continues rambling, “I- tell them I’m doing all I can but they’ve gotten inside and they’ve gotten Rhodes, I don’t know who else, I don’t see Romanoff- oh God…” Tony bites his lip, remembering his friend Rhodey, limping because of his broken leg brace, coughing from the smoke and getting cuffed before being dragged to the jet. Tony tried to do something, he tried, but there were too many bullets knocking his suit back and forth and too much fire power being forced at him and everything happened so fast, thrusters were sputtering-  
Tony yells in anger in the helmet as another section of the compound is blown to pieces. He dodges flying rocks that come hurling at him from the explosion. All of his friends are gone. He’s the only one left, he realizes with a pang, like knives in his heart. Hs helmet is flickering, FRIDAY’s voice breaking up. But he needs to say one last thing before-  
“Tell Peter I love him,” Tony says, his voice breaking.

The world spirals back to him, and it’s pitch black, but it’s not because his eyes are closed, it’s just the closet. The memory has stopped. The pain doesn’t. The worry hasn’t. The anxiety definitely didn’t. Tony finds himself clenching his fists, gasping inside the helmet. His breathing speeds up involuntarily and he tries to calm himself down. Tony realizes what’s happening as his head starts spinning and Tony starts feeling his lungs close up. No, no, no, no, not now. Not another panic attack, not another one. The bombs and the missiles reminded him a little too much of New York already, but you throw in the fact that Tony allowed his friends to be taken, and that Tony couldn’t make sure that Peter, his son, the one thing that he cared more than anything else about in the world, aside Pepper, was ok, and Tony was about to lose his freaking mind. Stark reminds himself that he’s handled these before, but with another pang, he recounts the recent ones and they all have been with the help of Peter. Peter, the purest kid he knows, who came to his side, jumping out of bed in the middle of the night and rushing down the hall into Tony’s room where the great and cocky Iron Man was leaning heavily against the nearest wall, shaking and hyperventilating. Peter, who had always gotten him through it, and had never left, as much as Tony told him to. He had hated Peter seeing him broken in that way and he asked him to leave every time. The kid never did.   
One night, Tony had been wide awake, staring at the ceiling when a strangled cry came from Peter’s room. Tony is immediately up and rushing down the hall and before he knows it, he’s on the floor in Peter’s room, grasping his kid’s shoulders. Peter’s gripping his chest and Tony realizes that he’s having a panic attack. Stark’s heart drops deep as Tony realizes he had passed the curse onto him.   
Stop!  
Tony is sitting in the closet, breathing hard through his helmet, and he’s forcing himself to calm down because he needs to be calm for Peter. He can still feel the way his kid had clutched him, taking awful gasping and sobbing breaths, crying out to Tony. That night, Tony experienced the stress he was put under when trying to calm his son down. That was the same pressure and stress he had forced on Peter whenever his son rushed in to his room when Tony had attacks.  
Tony puts his head in his hands. He had made a promise to Peter after the Rumlow incident, and Tony had broken that promise- heck, he had been breaking that promise every day. But nothing was worse than what Tony had just put Peter through. Tony couldn’t imagine, the 15 year old kid, speeding into the compound after getting that call and seeing the blown up building, his home...his home in ruins right in front of him. The poor kid was probably in hysterics searching for him, and what if he hadn’t found the Iron Man helmet right away? What if he had allowed himself to believe that Tony was really gone? Stark didn't know how much of the security footage FRIDAY was able to show him before she broke down. Or if she managed to show him anything at all. And when he finally did find the helmet and hear the message, was Peter just happy Tony was ok, or angry at him, or...something? Probably angry, Tony guessed, but he had that coming.   
Tony knew what he had said in the message to Peter wasn’t perfect, but he did his best to make sure the kid knew he loved him more than anything in the world. His best wasn’t enough. He didn’t say it enough. He should have said it one more time. Just one last time. That’s all Tony wanted to do: hold Peter one last time and tell his son he was sorry and that he loved him.  
It gave Tony a little hope at first when Cap had said he stayed home, but Tony knew Peter, and he had a bad feeling that Steve was a little naive when it came to kids. But then again, who could blame Rogers; he was frozen in ice for 70 years. It still made Tony worried when he thought of the possibility that Peter was out there, in danger, again, because of Tony.  
Stark blinks, and slowly gets to his feet. He realizes he’s breathing normally now and smiles slightly. Peter had helped with yet another attack, by not even being here.   
It was because of that, that Tony made up his mind. He’s not wasting any more time sitting here. Cap hadn’t contacted him for a long time, so Tony isn’t waiting for anyone. He’s getting back to Peter, and he’s fixing the mistakes he made. He couldn’t save everyone then, when the compound was blown to bits, but Tony would save them now. He kicked open the door and blasted everyone in his path that stopped him from getting to his friends, but more importantly, eventually getting home to his son.

Sam hurries down the hallway, his Falcon wings enclosing his body, his guns out and pointed. Wanda is in the front, red energy swirling in her hands. She taking out all the security cameras as they pass them without even looking. They just explode when she gets 10 feet away. Sam admires the fury she has, but he’s not to happy with the reason. Wanda’s been on edge ever since Vision was taken, and Sam understands why.   
Sam was a little nervous. They had lost contact with everyone, their comms must have broken down or lost signal, so Sam and Wanda were on their own. Sam shot two HYDRA agents approaching from behind and asked, “Wanda where are we headed?”  
“I have no idea,” Scarlet Witch answered, “But we’re close. I can feel the stone.”  
“What’s it saying?” Sam asked. Her energy was similar to the Mind Stone implanted in Vision’s head, so she could read it and feel it when she was close enough and concentrating.  
“It’s in pain,” she says softly, “It’s being contained.”  
That wasn’t good. Then Wanda suddenly stopped, putting her hand out, and backing against the wall. Sam followed suit, “What do you see?”  
Wanda concentrated, red energy coming out of her fingers in wisps, “It’s a hallway, but each section is blocked by a door on either side.”  
“Who’s at this door?” Sam whispered.  
Wanda closed her eyes, knitting her eyebrows, “7 men. All armed.”  
“Let’s take em out,” Sam said, “You ready?’  
Wanda nodded and Sam led the attack, lunging forward from behind the corner and shooting his pistols. That was 2 down or severely wounded. His wings shot him forward and he tackled one man to the ground. Sam punched him across the face, knocking him out, only to look up to see a barrel swivel around to his chest. Red magic shot past his ear, slamming the guy into the door, and smacking the other 2 into each other. Wanda stood next to him, her fingers outstretched, her hands glowing red.  
“Thanks,” Sam said.  
Wanda smirked, “No problem.”   
Sam stood up and went over to the door, and pushing buttons on his arm. He hacked into the door systems and the lock clicked. He kicked it open and ran inside.   
“Viz!” Wanda yelled, running forward. Sam took out the two guards were were trying to shut the door, and they collapsed to the ground. Sam crushed the walkie-talkie underneath his boot. Wanda had rushed to Vision’s side. His stone was dulled and the android looked drained. Wanda worked her magic around his electric bonds, causing all of them to shatter and fall to the floor. The android stood up and his Stone glowed again, bright. Before they could have greetings, Vision’s gaze moved calmly to the right, looking behind them and he shot a bright yellow blast from his forehead, taking out a HYDRA operative that was sneaking up on them from down the hall.  
“It’s good to be back,” he stated, hugging Wanda. He nodded to Sam, who nodded back, grinning.  
“Where are the rest?” Vision asked.  
“Cap and Scott are on their way to get Bucky. We’re here to get the rest of you all out,” Sam said.  
Wanda cut in, “Stark’s around here somewhere, but we lost comms a while ago.”   
Sam nodded, “Do you know who’s in the next cell?”  
“I think Agent Romanoff,” Vision said.  
“Good. Wherever Rhodes is, we need to get him last, because Wanda needs to get him out of there and we’ll probably need to get out rather quickly.”   
Sam turned around, hearing the alarms for the first time and seeing all the unconscious agents littered among the hallway. He winced, “We didn’t exactly sneak in.”  
Just as he says that, there’s a crackle from the speakers. 

Peter watches out the window as the spaceship hovers above the compound. It’s dark and deserted, but Peter knows better. He swallows, blinking to stay focussed. Tony’s in there. Peter’s heart aches because he’s so close, yet so far from him. What if things don’t go well, what if something bad happens to him, or worse, Tony? What if they...lose?  
“You ok kid?” Quill asks, walking by him.   
Peter snaps out of whatever daze he was in, “Yeah. Fine.”  
Quill nods at him before walking over to his computer, “Time to have some fun,” Quill smirks, typing things into the main computer, “Gamora! Pick a song!”  
“A song?” Peter asks.  
“Yeah! We listen to tunes while we work,” Rocket says in his voice that is almost always sounds annoyed. Peter jumps; the raccoon appeared out of nowhere.   
The tree was next to him, “I am Groot.”  
“Oh,” Peter said. He was still confused.   
“I am Groot,” Groot says again.  
“Hey that’s not nice,” Rocket says absentmindedly, before walking away to take apart a grenade to make a bigger one.  
“Gamora! Song!” Quill yells again, waiting for a response.  
“Hooked on a feeling!” Gamora calls from the bottom level of the ship.  
“Classic. Ok.” Quill is about to click something then he stops and calls, “I, uh, figured you would want Things Are Gonna Get Easier, but ok.”  
“If you want that one, then why did you ask?” Gamora calls back.  
“Because I wanted to ask for your opinion!” Quill explains.  
“I just gave it to you,” She said, coming up the stairs and shaking her head.   
Peter’s head is on a swivel, back and forth between the two. They reminded him slightly of Tony and Pepper.   
“Fine. If you want that one, ok,” Quill says, shrugging.  
Gamora groaned loudly, “I don’t care! You asked me for a song-”  
“Just play the song!” Drax says angrily, “You argue over things that are so useless! Songs make one weak. My wife was not a dancer. The most beautiful melody would be playing and she would-”  
The whole room chimes (except Peter) in a drawl, “Not even tap her foot, we know!”  
Peter’s head is just spinning like a top, and he’s super confused, but he decides to just accept it and go with it.   
Drax nods to himself, clearly satisfied, before going over to help Mantis lock up their stuff.  
Rocket is the one who finally goes over and pushes the button to stop Quill and Gamora’s bickering.   
Quill sighs, grabbing his Zune. Then he looks around, winking at Peter as he catches his eye for a split second, “Alright Guardians, don’t forget this is dangerous so let’s put on our mean faces!”  
Groot snarls, “I am Groot.”  
Peter wonders what that means.   
Rocket sighs, still fiddling with a grenade and Peter hopes he doesn’t blow the ship up. Drax yawns and Mantis scrunches up her nose, (Peter guesses that’s her angry face?). Gamora is flipping a small knife. In. Out. In. Out. She looks intimidating.  
Quill seems satisfied. “Yay,” he says happily, “Ok, you all ready? The minute I push play, they’ll know we’re here,” he warns.  
“What’s the plan?” Mantis asks, raising her hand.  
Good, at least someone asked; Peter was about to.   
“Do you even have a plan Quill?” Rocket asks.  
Peter hoped the answer was yes.  
“I do actually. Or a concept- I forgot what percentage we decided was a plan,” He winced, looking around.  
“I think it was 400%,” Drax says.  
“Dude! That’s not possible,” Quill sighs, looking at him in annoyance.   
“40%,” Gamora says, “It was 40. So please tell me it’s more than 40.”  
“It is actually. 53,” Quill says proudly.  
“53% of a plan?” Peter asks, “That’s awful.”  
“You’d be surprised,” Quill says, pointing to his head, “I saved the universe with 12% once.”  
“Galaxy,” Drax corrects, “We are not the Guardians of the Universe Quill.”  
“Same thing,” Quill waves him off.   
“53%,” Peter repeats weekly. Those weren’t good odds. Peter had a bad feeling about this. Oh God, now he was making Star Wars references in his head. This wasn’t good.  
“I am Groot.” Groot shrugs.  
“It is better than 52%, thank you Groot,” Quill says, giving the tree a thumbs up. A little leave protrudes from Groot’s fist as a thumb and the small tree smiles. Peter decides he’s actually kind of cute.   
Peter shakes his head, closing his mask over his face and puts himself on mute mode so the Guardians can’t hear him, “Karen?”  
Yes Peter?  
“I think we’re going to die,” he says, kidding only slightly. His suit glows and his display lights up, functioning and 100%. Peter takes a deep breath inside his new suit, still trying to get used to the fact that he was actually wearing it. Peter wished Tony could see him now.   
Quill’s voice rings loud and clear through Peter’s mask, “Get ready to drop Guardians, we’re going in- Rocket! Stop taking apart my ship! What’s that even for?”  
“Blowing up planets. I’ll leave it on the ship,” Rocket says, tossing the small grenade into a container.   
“Thanks!” Quill says, shaking his head.  
“Hey, I put it in a bin!” Rocket protests.  
Peter interjects, “Uh, what’s a bin gonna do?”  
Quill points at him, “Thank you! Thank you! The kid gets it!”  
“Eh,” Rocket sighs, gripping his gun.   
Quill sighs and pushes a button on his Zune. Then he grins, “Let’s get to work.”

Tony blasts the door down the hall, smacking it into the approaching HYDRA agents. His suit is failing. Still no FRIDAY. His display is fading, and he has to smack his helmet again. Then the speaker crackles throughout the entire building.   
Tony frowns. What the heck? It takes a him a while to recognize the song.   
“Ooga-chaka Ooga-Ooga, Ooga-chaka Ooga-Ooga…”  
Hooked on a feeling? What the actual heck? Cap would not approve of what Tony said in his helmet, but one couldn't blame him. A 70’s song didn’t give Tony much hope. But what came out of the speaker was a lot more reassuring.   
“Hey, you’re being hacked by the freaking Guardians of the Galaxy. This is a rescue op. HYDRA? You all are screwed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next few chapters get INTENSE and um...sad (don't hate me)... so stay tuned! Let me know what you think and make sure to share this story! So glad you all love it :)


	11. Tell me there's a pulse...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This one's a long one! The fight at the HYDRA base continues! Scott, Sam, Nat, Rhodey, Wanda and Vision meet up with the Guardians. Peter goes off on his own to go find Tony. Steve continues to battle his best friend. 
> 
> And I am so...so sorry about the cliffhanger I have to leave you all on. Sorry about that.

Peter is first to jump down into the hole that they blew through the roof and we he does, he gulps. There’s 20 operatives right in front of him, and he’s grateful when Quill drops down at his side. Peter watches as Starlord tosses this weird blue thing to the ground and it shoots up as a shield, blocking all of the bullets that the agents shot at them. Soon, the Guardians have fanned out beside him.  
“Who are you?” The leader of the group asks, lowering his gun.  
“We’re the Guardians of the-” Quill starts to say in a deep voice but Drax lunges forward through the blue shield with his knives, roaring loudly.  
“Drax come on! You ruined a dramatic moment! That could have been awesome,” Quill yelled angrily, clicking the button behind his ear and retracting the blue shield. His weird silver mask appeared over his face and he sighed, flipped his two guns and started shooting. The thing he had thrown at them earlier now sprung to life, and it sparked, electrocuting 4 guys that were standing near it.  
The speaker blared, “Everything’s alright, I’m hooked on a feeling. I’m high on believing...”  
Peter had just been standing there, and he finally jumps into action, webbing a man’s gun that was pointed at Mantis’ back. She was doing this weird thing where she touched people’s arms and just said, “Sleep,” and they feel over, snoring. Her antennae thingies glowed. Peter didn’t have time to realize how weird that was.  
He did a flip, kicking a HYDRA agent in the chest before webbing another and kneeing him in the gut. Peter ducked a punch and kicked another guy’s feet out from under him and set off a web grenade to trap another.  
Quill flew by him, muttering the words to the song, “Girl you got me thirsty, for another- ow-” he smacked into an agent that was trying to get up, “cup of wine. Pew pew,” Quill shot the two approaching guards making sound effects with his mouth.  
“Groot move out of the way, you’re going to get hurt!” Gamora yells, smacking a guard across the face with her gun and flipping him over her shoulder into the wall. Peter webs him there, and Gamora gives him a curt nod of thanks before spinning and taking a shot at a man halfway down the long hallway. Peter looks for Groot. He sees the tiny tree dancing to ‘hooked on a feeling’ which is still blasting through the speakers, echoing in the hallway. The tiny tree waves at Peter, pumping his fists and jumping up and down. An unconscious HYDRA agent crashes to the ground an inch behind him. Groot is still waving.  
“Hi,” Peter says, jumping off a wall and webbing two HYDRA men to the floor.  
Rocket’s got a huge gun and he’s yelling as he shoots it, “Get some! Take this! Take that! Ahhhhhhh!”  
Peter slides to the floor and webs the back wall, slingshotting himself forward. He webs an agents foot and yanks it, bringing him toppling to the floor and taking another down with him as they slam into each other. Peter webs another to the wall and jumps back as a gun shoots next to him. Quill takes care of that one, appearing at Peter’s side and shooting his blaster.  
Peter looks down the hallway. There’s one man left and everyone turns to glare at him. The HYDRA agents turns and starts running down the hallway.  
“I got him,” Quill says, raising his gun.  
“No I got him,” Rocket says, pushing Quill aside to aim his own weapon.  
Quill shakes his head, batting him away, “I called it first!”  
Rocket pushes back, “Yeah but you’re gun is crap. I live for the simple things, like how much this is gonna hurt,” Rocket snarls, grinning as he takes aim.  
“No fair I-” Quill says, pushing Rocket’s gun down.  
There’s a little yell from Peter’s feet and he jumps as he sees Groot run forward angrily. The tree’s branches extend almost all the way down the hallway, wrapping around the man’s legs and knocking him to the floor before picking him up and slamming him against the wall.  
Groot’s arms shrink back into his tiny body and he continues dancing.  
“I’m hooked on a feeling. I’m high on believing…”  
Quill hits a button on his arm and the song stops. The room is silent, and everyone looks at the tiny tree who is hitting Quill with his tiny fists for stopping his music  
“Or just have Groot do it,” Rocket sighs before looking at the tiny tree.  
“I am Groot,” The tree says to Quill, and judging from Star Lord’s expression, Peter doesn’t think Groot said something nice.  
Peter swings himself to the end of the hallway and he skids to a stop, putting his palms out to stop himself at the door. It’s sealed shut and Peter glances over at the door lock.  
“Karen talk to me. Where’s everyone, and how is FRIDAY coming?” Peter asks. He’s hoping for good news.  
“Almost there on FRIDAY: 96%. The minute she’s back, Tony’s suit will be fully functioning. This door seems to be locked. We can try overriding the cables, that might do it. I can’t get readings on anyone, but there are 10 heat signatures approaching past this door. They’ll arrive in 68 seconds.”  
“We need to get the door open,” Peter says, “I can override the door lock but it will take time-”  
“Move kid,” Rocket says rather happily as he turns a knob on the side of his gun all the way to the left. The gun starts shaking, letting out a big, Wrrrrrrrrrrr-  
Quill yanks Peter out of the way by his arm as a huge blast comes from the gun. The door is blown off its hinges and sent tumbling, full force down the hallway.  
“I am Groot,” the tree says, holding his ears, but grinning.  
“Hey,” Quill says, pointing at him angrily, “Not ok.”  
Rocket on the other hand grins at the tree, “That was freaking cool. But we need to talk about your language.”  
“I am Groot,” the tree pouts.  
“You are not an adult,” Rocket exclaims.  
Peter lets them argue and he checks in with Karen again, “Ok, how are we looking Karen?”  
“It seems Steve, Mr. Lang, and Buchanan Barnes are in the west wing. I can’t locate Tony without FRIDAY, his suit is jamming my trackers. It seems that Sam and Wanda have already met up with Vision, and they are on their way to get Natasha.”  
“And how is FRIDAY?” Peter asks.  
“Almost there Peter. 97%.” Karen reports.  
“Ok so which way to meet with Sam and Wanda?”  
“Left down the northwest wing, then 2 rights, 1 left and down a couple hallways.”  
“Ok, thanks Karen.” Peter says. He’d have her repeat that later. He turns to the Guardians who stop and look at him.  
“What?” Peter asks.  
“Tell us what to do kid,” Quill says.  
Peter nods, “Ok so we’ll be more powerful in numbers. We need to meet up with Sam and Wanda, they’re that way. I know where to go,” Peter says.  
“We’ll follow you,” Gamora says, giving him an encouraging nod.  
Peter starts to run down the hallway, the Guardians close behind.

“Left.” Karen advised.  
Peter turned, and blasts shot past him, shooting HYDRA agents that came with raised weapons from around the corner. Most came from Quill, but Peter webbed some up as well. Normally, he would have been totally not ok with people shooting from behind him, but he trusted Quill, even though he just met him.  
“Peter. FRIDAY is at 100%. But…”  
“But what?” Peter says, stopping. Everyone almost crashed into him.  
“What is it Peter?” Gamora asked.  
“But what Karen?” Peter repeated.  
“I can track Tony. He’s cornered and there are multiple agents approaching from either side. FRIDAY is functional, but for some reason she’s not connecting. He’s used up all of his signal boosts so she can’t sync with his suit and he’s running low on power. His suit will go dead on him in 6 minutes.”  
Peter tries to think, “Can you boost the signal?”  
“I’d have to be close.” Karen said.  
Close. Peter could get close. He turned, “Ok, so uh, new plan, I have to go that way,” he points behind them, “and you guys have to go this way.”  
Quill put his hand out, knitting his eyebrows as his mask receded, “What, why?”  
“Because Tony’s down there and I’m the only one who can fix his suit,” peter explained, “But you guys- um, Karen what was the remaining directions again?”  
“2 lefts, one right, and down a hallway. They’re moving so it might change.”  
“Well then you guys have to hurry. Two lefts, one right, and down a hallway. Scream for either Sam, Wanda or Vision and tell them I sent you guys. Don’t get shot or blown up. Vision has an infinity stone in his head so-”  
“He what?” Quill exclaims.  
Peter waved him off impatiently, “It’s a long story, he’s an android, but he’s definitely on our side, really nice guy, now go!”  
“Are you gonna be ok kid?” Rocket asked. Everyone looks at him shocked.  
“Don’t get all mushy, I’m just asking a question- screw you Quill,” Rocket grumbles at Star Lord who is making faces at him, failing to suppress a smile.  
Peter nods, a little distracted and eager to get going, “Yeah. I’ll, I’ll be fine. Just go!” He starts to swing himself down the hallway, back from where he came.  
“Be careful Peter!” Mantis says.  
Drax nods at him, “Fight well young Spider.”  
“Good luck kid,” Star Lord says, lowering his mask at him.  
Gamora gives him a genuine smile, “Go.”  
“I am Groot,” the tree says softly. Peter’s around the corner before he can ask what that means.

Tony gets behind the wall again as a blast blows up where he was once standing.  
Power at 7%. Come on FRIDAY where are you? Tony bites his lip, firing a blast at the other hallway. He had hit a dead end. The door lock was steaming from where he had used one of his precious remaining missiles to jam it. There were at least 10 men behind that door and they were slowly getting it open. On the other side of the hallway there are just as many agents, if not more.  
6% power. Tony was getting worried. He couldn’t keep this up. He got distracted and didn’t see that he was partially in the line of fire a shot hit his left arm (of course his left arm), and Tony stumbled forward. He regained his balance, checking the suit. It didn’t get damaged; it just caught him off guard, but now his display was flickering and Tony hit his helmet again. This time it didn’t blink back to life as quickly.  
POWER LOW 5%  
“Yeah no crap,” Tony grumbled, smacking his hand against the wall to make his beam charge. One last blast fired from his hand, then it spluttered out. Tony smacked it again. The door opened a little more and Tony pressed himself against the wall as shots barely missed him.  
POWER FAILING 4%  
Tony has just sent the message he had made a long time ago to Pepper. The worst case scenario one. He bit back tears that he may never get to see her in the wedding dress she had picked out. Gosh he loved her so much. Through everything she has stuck with him.  
Then Tony forced himself to focus.  
“Send...message to Peter Parker,” Tony said, his voice breaking.  
No voice came back to him because he was using his non-talking A.I. Tony was a little sad because if FRIDAY had not connected now, she was probably ruined. He was worried that his request for a message hadn’t been processed, but now there was a little blinking red light on his flickering screen.  
WARNING: MESSAGE WILL USE UP ALL POWER. REPEAT COMMAND TO PROCEED.  
“Send message to Peter Parker,” Tony said again, more firmly. Now a little audio recording lit up the screen. He manually reverted all power to that.  
“Peter, hey it’s...it’s Tony. I just wanted to let you that I...I love you kid. You mean more to me than anything else in the world, and I’m- I’m sorry I failed you. I thought I could fix this one, I really thought I could. And, it turns out I can’t-”  
The door was halfway open, and agents were shooting through the open half. The other agents were approaching in the hallway. Tony blinked.  
“And I’m so sorry. I should have done more, I should have protected you, I should have-” Tony’s voice cracked, “I’m a horrible father Peter, and you deserve so much more than me. But it’s gonna be ok kid. Ok Peter? It’s gonna be ok. You’re brilliant, and smart, and brave, and kind and pure and so many other things. I’m so proud of you Peter. So proud. And I’m so sorry because...I don’t think I’ll get to tell you in person-” Tony’s voice broke off.  
POWER CRITICAL 1%  
“This wasn’t your fault Peter. Don’t think that for a second. I love you kid, I love you so much Peter. You’re the best son anyone could ask for. Alright underoos, I’ve got to run. I love you Peter, I can’t say that enough. And I’m...I’m sorry.”  
Tony sent the message before his suit blanked out. The display spluttered. His glowing eyes flickered, and then went dark. His suit gave a soft whirr. Tony sank to the floor. The only thing that he could think of was Peter as Tony closed his eyes.

Peter swung down the hallway as fast as possible.  
“Which way Karen, which way?”  
“Right! Right!”  
Peter skidded, backtracked and ran down the right hallway, webbing up HYDRA agents that got in his way. His adrenaline was kicking in and Peter felt superhuman. He was running faster than he had ever run, flipping and kicking without even thinking or talking, like he usually did.  
“Incoming audio message to original suit.” Karen sounded confused, but then her tone changed, “It’s Tony.”  
Peter didn’t stop running and he didn’t stop to think before he spluttered, “Play it!”  
Tony's voice rang out in his mask and Peter listened as he fought through waves of HYDRA operatives that were between him and his dad.  
“Peter, hey it’s...it’s Tony. I just wanted to let you that I...I love you kid.”  
“No!” Peter yelled in his helmet, realizing what the message was, “Tony no-“  
He knew Tony couldn’t hear him, he couldn’t tell him-  
“You mean more to me than anything else in the world, and I’m- I’m sorry I failed you. I thought I could fix this one, I really thought I could. And, it turns out I can’t. And I’m so sorry.”  
Peter swings himself even faster, “No,” Peter sobs, “Tony!” He stops at a split, looking down each hallway, “Karen which way?”  
“Left.” Her voice is firm.  
“I should have done more, I should have protected you, I should have. I’m a horrible father Peter, and you deserve so much more than me.”  
“No!” Peter screams, “No, please no, come on, come on Peter faster, faster, No, come on-” Those words had made him angry. Hot tears came to his eyes. Tony was everything to him. He was the best father Peter could ask for. Peter was the one who didn’t deserve him. Now Peter is screaming back to him in his mask, tears streaming down his face, but it does no good.  
“But it’s gonna be ok kid.” Tony's voice is reassuring but it breaks, “Ok Peter? It’s gonna be ok. You’re brilliant, and smart, and brave, and kind and pure and so many other things.”  
“No!” Peter sobs again, “Tony no- please no...wait...Tony!” It wouldn’t be alright. It would never be alright. No no no no. Peter’s just flipping and swinging around people, not stopping to fight, just running as fast as he can. Running, running.  
“I’m so proud of you Peter. So proud. And I’m so sorry because...I don’t think I’ll get to tell you in person.”  
Peter lets out a heartbroken scream, gasping through his mask. He can’t breath. It would be his fault. He’s not going fast enough. Not Tony. Please, God no.  
“Tony!” Peter screams, running down the hallway. He couldn’t be too late. It would be his fault. Peter screams again, punching and kicking, webbing his way through three HYDRA agents and breaking into a sprint again, before webbing the wall and throwing himself forward. It would be his fault. His fault...  
“This wasn’t your fault Peter. Don’t think that for a second.”  
Peter cries out. Yes it would! It would, it would, it would. No, no, no, no!  
“I love you kid, I love you so much Peter. You’re the best son anyone could ask for.”  
Peter’s sobbing now. He’s so close. He hears gunshots and shouts to get a door open. “NO!” Peter screams in his mask. “TONY! No, I love you too, I love you- tony please no! Please-”  
The audio is ending soon, he sees the time running low. Peter’s blinking back tears, tearing as fast as he humanly can down the hallway.  
“Alright underoos, I’ve got to run.” Tony’s voice is broken, sad, exhausted, but he’s trying to be strong for Peter, “I love you Peter, I can’t say that enough. And I’m...I’m sorry.”  
And then it ends. Peter lets out a long yell before gasping, “No! NO, please no- oh God- no...TONY!”  
“DAD!”

Steve ducks Bucky’s punch.  
“Scott you have to go!” he yells.  
“Cap you know I can’t do that!” Lang yells, shrinking and climbing up Bucky’s suit before flipping off him and kicking him in the back.  
“I’m asking you to. Get out Natasha or somebody-” Steve flips his shield up to block the metal arm that comes at him. Scott shrinks again and Bucky gets yanked back. Cap has to admit there were many times Scott had saved him during the fight.  
When Scott comes full sized again he responds, “Cap I can’t-”  
“I’m serious Lang! Go,” Steve yells firmly, kicking Bucky in the chest. He lunges forward again, knocking his metal arm away with his shield and risking a glance behind him at Scott.  
“GO!”  
Scott backs up, shakes his head, cusses (and Cap doesn’t bother saying ‘Language’) and then shrinks and disappears underneath the door. Steve breathes a sigh of relief, and loses a bit of focus.  
The Winter Soldier hits Steve in the side and Cap yells in pain, hitting Bucky straight in the chest with his shield. He winces slightly that he hurt his friend, but he knows that now that Scott’s gone, he has to raise his intensity level just to keep himself from getting seriously hurt. Bucky wouldn’t hold back so that meant Steve couldn’t either.  
“Bucky!” Cap yells, backing up across the room.  
“That’s not my name!” The Winter Soldier yells, running to tackle Steve who dodges.  
“That is your name,” Steve urges, “James Buchanan Barnes.”  
He blocks a punch with his shield and backs up again, “My best friend.”  
The metal arm catches his shield and Steve looks over it into the eyes of his old friend, “Bucky it’s me!”  
Bucky yells and swipes Cap’s feet out from under him, knocking him to the floor and pressing the shield into Cap’s chest. Steve yells in pain, pushing back as hard as he can. The metal arm hits him in the side of the head and his hands go limp, the vibranium shield crushing his chest. He remembers when Bucky had been so close to killing him. If HYDRA could get into his friend’s brain, s could he. He decides to try his old tactic.  
Steve wheezes, “Are you gonna kill me Buck?”  
“Stop saying that name!” Bucky screams angrily, blinking.  
Steve grits his teeth, feeling like his ribs are about to crack and he coughs out, “Bucky please. It’s me. It’s Steve.”  
The Winter Soldier yells and hits him across the face. Steve tastes blood in his mouth. Then comes another hit, across the jaw this time.  
“Buck-”  
The metal connects once more.  
Steve coughs up blood, his hands return to gripping the edges of the shield that is grinding him into the ground and crushing his chest.  
“If you’re going to kill me Buck, kill me. If you’re going to kill your best friend, kill me,” he slurs, one eye already swelling up.  
Silence.  
Staring.  
Then the Winter Soldier releases him, and stands, gripping the shield. He raises it above Steve, ready to slam it into his chest and end the life of this best friend.  
Steve won’t try to stop it. He knows Bucky won’t do it. Right?  
“It’s ok Buck,” he says, coughing.  
The eyes of his best friend glare at him, the metal arm grips the shield that’s shaking a few feet above his chest as Bucky trembles in anger.  
“Buck it’s ok,” Steve makes out.  
He feels a woosh of air as the shield comes down…  
...and it cracks the floor next to his head.

Scott hates that he left Cap alone. He feels responsible for whatever injuries Steve gets from fighting Bucky. Man, that Winter Soldier can fight. Scott’s side hurt and he clutched it as he ran, still shrunk to a small size as he ran along the floor. He hears voices down the hall, but they didn’t sound like HYDRA. He slowly peeks around the corner and sees- ok.  
Scott has seen a lot of weird things in his life but nothing was as weird as what he was staring at.  
“Peter said go two lefts and a right,” the man says.  
“No he said 1 left, 2 rights,” the raccoon counters.  
Scott does a double take. The animal had said Peter. Peter Parker? Kid Peter? Scott thought he stayed home! Why would he stay home? If Peter was here, he was in danger. Maybe these- he didn’t know if he should call them people- knew where Peter was. So, Scott became normal size in the middle of the hallway.  
“Hi, I’m Scott,” he said, taking off his mask.  
The group jumped, raising their weapons.  
“Was Scott one of the names Peter said?” The man whispered to the green woman.  
“No. Let’s kill him,” the big purple guy roared.  
“Woah woah woah!” Scott said, “Peter Parker? The kid? Spiderman?”  
The man nodded slowly.  
Scott breathed a sigh of relief, “I know him. He’s a friend. A close friend. He probably told you to go find Sam or Wanda? Right? Those names?”  
“Those were the people,” the man said happily, before clearing his throat and lowering his voice to sound more professional, “Yeah, them.”  
“Yeah, well I’m Scott and I’m looking for them too. Where’s Peter?”  
“He went to go help his dad. Do you know him too? Tony Stark?” The other girl said, the one with big eyes and weird antennas.  
“His dad,” Scott laughs, shaking his head before nodding, “yes, I know Stark. Did Peter go alone?”  
“Yes the Spider boy went off alone. He will make a brave companion in battle,” the big man laughed, raising his fist.  
“Shoot, I hope he’s ok,” Scott said nervously.  
“He should be fine,” the man assures him, “he’s a tough kid.”  
Scott knows that, but still.  
“I told you Peter, we should have sent one of us with him,” The green woman said, crossing her arms and glaring at the man. Scott was confused. Did she just call him Peter?  
“Hey he seemed-” The man started but Scott cut him off.  
“Wait, you’re Peter too?” Scott asked, pointing at the man who nodded. Scott huffed, “That’s gonna be confusing.”  
“Peter Quill, Star Lord, whichever you prefer. Oh and this is Gamora, Mantis, Drax, Groot, and Rocket.”  
“I am Groot.” the tiny tree says.  
Scott stares at him before he blinks, “Ohhhhhkay. I think we should-” then he stops, hearing footsteps behind him, “Someone’s coming.”  
Star Prince raises his blaster, and so does the raccoon. Scott tenses, ready to fight but then he puts out his hands, “Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot!”  
Sam, Wanda, Vision, Natasha and Rhodey emerge behind the corner. Vision’s stone glows, Wanda’s hand sparks red, and Natasha, Rhodey and Sam raise their guns.  
“Stop! Stop! Stop!” Scott yells, waving his arms, “Everybody chill!”  
The weapons are all still up, but no one is shooting so that’s good.  
“Scott?” Sam asked.  
“Yeah, hi. Gosh, I’m so glad you guys are ok. Are you ok?”  
“Where’s Cap?” Natasha asks.  
Scott frowns, “Nice to see you too Romanoff. I take it you’re all ok- Cap’s fighting Bucky...who isn’t Bucky anymore.”  
“Oh no.” Sam says, his face falling.  
“Yeah,” Scott turns, forgetting about the other half of the people in the room, “Oh and these are-”  
“We’re the Guardians of the Galaxy,” Star Lord says proudly. “We got a distress signal from Stark. We’re friends with Peter-Parker right?- yeah, who has the same name as me, which is pretty cool. You can call me Peter, but that might get confusing.”  
“That’s Drax, Mantis, Gamora, Rocket, and Groot,” Scott supplies.  
“Wow. Fast learner,” Rocket says.  
“I try.”  
“So what do we do?” Wanda asks.  
Scott had nothing. Luckily, someone did.  
Sam takes charge, “I’ll go with Wanda, we need to make sure Clint’s ok. The guardians over here will go shut this place down,” he looks at Star Lord, “Find whoever runs this place, and bring him in.”  
“And Scott, Natasha, Vision and Rhodes will go try and help Cap,” Sam finishes.  
“What about Peter?’ Star Lord demands.  
“And Stark?” Rhodes adds.  
Scott had been thinking the same thing. He wasn’t going to just leave the kid out there to fend for himself. Whenever Scott looked at Peter he saw a bit of Cassie in his recklessness and bravery. He would never forgive himself if anything happened to that kid, partially because he still felt awful for back-handing Peter across the airport as he fell during that battle. He could have killed him-  
“Crap,” Sam says, clearly not knowing what to do  
“I’ll look for them,” Nat says.  
Sam shoots her a grateful look before turning to look at the whole group, “The only way we win is to shut this place down from the inside.”  
“Ok let’s go,” Scott says, putting his mask back on, “Vision and Rhodey, let’s go. Rhodes can you walk?”  
“Yeah. Wanda fixed me up,” he says, gripping his gun, “Let’s go.”  
“Alright.” Scott salutes Star Lord before running back down the hallway where he came. The team parts ways, and he hopes it’s not the last time he’ll see some of his closest friends.

Peter’s crying as he flings himself around the corner. Tony’s words echo in his ears, “I’m sorry.”  
Peter sees a group of HYDRA agents, trying to shove the door open and he snarls angrily, lunging forward.  
He doesn’t think.  
He doesn’t care.  
Nothing else matters.  
Peter didn’t care if he got shot or killed, as long as he knew Tony was ok.  
His spider legs came out from his suit, and he jumps into a spiral, knocking 8 people backward. Peter took out the other two in front of him, swiping their legs out from under them and webbing them to the wall. He flipped onto the ceiling and shot web grenades, trapping half of the men in white. Peter whirled and fought like a madman. There was a new level of intensity showed and he didn’t hold back. Peter jumped up to the ceiling again, flipping and bringing himself down on top of the last agent, knocking him to the floor. Peter webbed him up and then straightened, running for the door that was slightly opened. The gunshots were still sounding. Peter felt tears in his eyes.  
He pressed himself in between the small crack of the door and pushed with all of his might, letting out a determined yell. It wouldn’t budge. No. He’s getting in there. He needs to get to his dad. Tony’s in there. Come on Peter.  
Peter cries out again, hot tears streaming down his cheeks as his chest heats up in anger. He strains against the door, pushing it with every single bit of super strength he has. The door slowly opened and Peter slipped through, staggering and gasping for breath. He turns and hears the shots coming from around the corner that’s at the end of the hallway.  
“No, no, no, no-” he cried, tears still streaming down his face as he swung toward the end of the long hallway, “Karen reboot FRIDAY! We’ve got to be close enough!”  
“Already trying-”  
Peter’s ears were ringing from the shots and he screams in desperation, swinging to the right and landing around the corner, sliding to a stop in the middle of the hallway. Emotions crash into him and Peter almost collapses on the spot. A group of HYDRA agents were shooting at a dull and motionless Iron Man suit, that was crumpled on the floor.  
“NO!” Peter yelled, before lunging at the men. The 8 legs came out from his suit again and they worked brilliantly as Peter rolled, knocking men off their feet. He stood and punched a man in the chest before bringing up his foot to knock another’s gun out of grasp. Peter webbed two together and then stuck one against the wall before kicking backward off another man’s chest and shooting a taser web at the nearest gun. The guy holding it was shocked by the electricity and he fell to the ground. Peter swung the web that was still attached to the weapon, slamming it into the chest of the nearest operative. He webbed the other two up and then shot a web at an agent’s chest, before yanking him forward. Peter slammed a foot into his face and flipped off of him, landing on one knee and looking up. Everyone was unconscious or retreating back down the hallway and Peter let them go.  
He only cared about one thing.  
Now Peter could turn.  
Now Peter could sob.  
Now Peter could run.  
So he ran, diving to his knees by the Iron Man suit, “Tony!”  
Nothing.  
“Karen!” Peter sobbed. His A.I. didn’t answer. The suit was scraped and dented by bullets and completely out of power. Peter tried to yell to Karen again, “Karen, FRIDAY! Get FRIDAY back!”  
“I’m rebooting her,” Karen said.  
Peter’s mask recedes to his neck as he pulls the suit into his lap, tapping the shoulders, shaking the metal suit, not wanting to believe what he thinks might be true. His hands are shaking, tears falling freely now as huge sobs rack his body. Peter shakes his head as he pleads, “No, no, no, Tony! Tony please-” Peter’s voice breaks. He presses his forehead against the Iron Man helmet.  
“Dad?” he whispers shakily.  
“Peter?” That wasn’t Karen, Peter realized, it was FRIDAY.  
“FRIDAY!” Peter cries, “Eject suit!”  
The Iron Man suit shrinks back on either side, splitting from the middle. Tony’s laying in the center of it, his eyes closed. He looks absolutely awful, and Peter’s heart stops as he looks at his seemingly broken and lifeless form.  
Peter pulls Tony out of the suit, “Tony please...no!”  
He’s sobbing now and he cries, “FRIDAY! Talk to me!”  
FRIDAY’s voice is breaking up, “I- I need to connect entirely- I - can’t get readings-”  
“Karen help her, she’s overloading!” Peter yells, still looking over Tony thoroughly for signs of life, and finding none.  
“No. No, no, no, no, no! Tony please! Dad? DAD!” Peter crumples against Stark’s unmoving body, hugging him to his chest.  
“Peter...his suit barely had oxygen in it. It was sealed shut,” Karen says, her voice soft yet horrified.  
“No!” Peter cries in shock. Does that mean his heart completely stopped?! If he couldn’t inhale or take in oxygen, and he didn’t get any to his brain…  
The suit would do that, Peter realized, when it’s being shot at. If the bullets didn’t stop coming, it would seal shut, and if it had power it would be ok because it would still let air through, but it didn’t have power, which means Tony was suffocating, and-  
Peter’s head is spinning and he’s gasping through his sobs, his eyes wide and filled with tears.  
“DAD!” Peter sobs, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry Tony.” Peter’s gasping for air, still shaking Tony, who stays unmoving.  
“No, please no! Tony! Wake up! Dad, please wake up!” Peter hugs Tony tighter, “Karen please tell me there’s a pulse. Find a pulse! Find it! Tell me there’s a pulse!”  
The A.I. doesn’t answer.  
“No...no, no, no- Karen!” Peter sobs, cupping Tony’s face, his hands in the black and grey buzzcut, pleading for anything: a gasp, a blink, a movement- anything.  
“Karen!” Peter shouts.  
The A.I.’s voice is soft and gentle, “I’m sorry Peter. I can’t...I can’t find one.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...don't hate me?...  
> Leave your comments below, and stay tuned for Chapter 12! The next 2 chapters are going to be about this same length and very intense, so I hope you enjoy them! Thank you all for reading and commenting!


	12. No button pushing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I know this isn't normally how late I post so im sryyyy. Glad you all loved the cliff hanger :)  
> Enjoy this chap it's another long one.   
> We get the continuation of the heartbreaking tony peter scene (so sry), Clint blowing up his ship, Groot pushing YET another button, one final threat that calls for decisions, and someone webbing someone to the tarmac.   
> Oh and does anyone have any tape?

"I can't find one..."  
The words echo in his ears and Peter stares in disbelief, his emotions making him dizzy.Peter shakes his head, feeling weak and helpless. Not Tony. God no...  
No...  
“No!” Peter yells, his breathing fast and panicked, and tears fall onto Tony’s black shirt. Peter grabs Tony’s shoulders, shaking his head and trembling, biting the inside of his cheek so hard he tastes blood. Peter breaks down in sobs, crumpled against Tony’s unmoving chest, “No...Tony…dad please wake up...wake up...”  
Peter then blinks and he forced himself to focus. No. Tony could not die on him. He tries to think as his brain spins. His voice cracks but he manages to stutter, “Karen! Would a shock restart his heart?”  
“I don’t know his exact condition Peter-”  
“Is it possible Karen?” Peter shouts, still holding Tony, blinking back tears.  
“I...I guess it is.”  
Peter holds his hand out in front of him, pointed at Tony’s chest. He takes a deep breath, “Taser web.” He squeezes his eyes shut and brings his two fingers to his palm.   
Tony’s chest jolts. Peter opens his eyes.   
Nothing.   
“No!” Peter yells, slamming his fist down hard on Tony’s chest.   
Nothing.

Darkness.  
That’s all he has seen. He hadn’t felt anything. Heard anything. Seen anything.  
Just darkness.   
Then a jolt of electricity.   
A hard hit that sends a spasm throughout his body.  
Then a gasp.  
A splutter.  
And Tony is thrown back into reality.

Peter opens his eyes, and barely has time to let out a relieved sob before Tony cries out. The hand Peter had been clutching so tightly grips his back and Tony jolts up, grasping his chest. Peter cries out to him. Tony’s eyes scan the room, unfocused, before they lock with Peter, who’s crying, with tears streaming down his already wet cheeks. He’s surprised, relieved, hurt, scared, angry, horrified...broken.   
Peter just stares at him, blinking. Tony lets out a half-gasp, half-yell, his voice cracking and breaking, gulping down air. In one swift move of instinct and adrenaline, Tony grabs Peter, pulling him into his chest to shield him and raises his hand over Peter’s shoulder, a hand that his Iron Man repulsor has already attached itself to, thanks to FRIDAY being functional again.   
Tony’s chest is raising and falling, so fast, so panicked and he’s crying out each exhale, trying to calm down. Peter is holding him tight, his mind trying to wrap around everything that just happened. Tony finally lets his repulsor fall and go back to the Iron Man suit when he is confident they’re safe.   
“Peter?” Tony asks shakily.  
“It’s me dad, it’s me-” Peter looks up, in tears, and Tony brings his hands up to grab Peter’s shoulders.   
Tony hugs him, crushing him into his chest, one hand in his son’s hair, his other arm firm around his back. Peter’s still crying, holding Tony tight. He never wants to let go again.  
“I was so worried,” Tony says, holding Peter at arm’s length, “You didn’t stay home. You screwed the pooch kid. You screwed the pooch hard. Oh God, I love you so much.” He hugs Peter again.  
Peter buries his face into Tony’s neck, “I-” he’s speaking in between gasps of air, “I got your message. I was running and I got here and you wouldn’t wake up and-”  
“Hey, shhhhhh,” Tony says, pulling him closer again.   
Peter grips his dad tight, “I love you dad.”  
“I love you so much Peter,” Tony replies, “More than you know. I love you so much kid.”   
Peter smiles in Tony’s embrace. Then he’s held at arm's length again and Tony looks him over proudly, “Look at you,” he says in awe, “That’s...that’s our suit. It looks great...Peter I- that’s our suit.”  
“Yeah. I...I figured I would need all the help I could get,” Peter said shyly.  
Tony looked him over, his eyes gleaming with tears and he smiled, “I’m so proud of you Pete. So proud. That suit…” He hugs Peter again before they get to their feet. Peter can’t help but hug Tony again, making sure he’s still there, he’s there in front of him, and Peter is never going to lose him again. The Iron Man suit encloses around Tony except for his head and Tony grins, “Good to have you back FRIDAY.”  
“Wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Peter,” The A.I. says.  
Tony smiles proudly at Peter who is blushing, before his gaze moves behind him.   
“You did that?” Tony asks, looking at the unconscious and webbed up HYDRA agents.  
“Yeah,” Peter says, “I...I did that.”   
“Wow,” Tony says, cracking a smile and winking at Peter, “That’s my boy.”  
Peter has never been happier in his life. He hugs Tony again, both of them still not back to normal yet.  
“I love you Peter. So much. And I’m so proud of you,” Tony says, his voice breaking.   
Peter smiles before he bites his lip, blinking back tears, “You promised…” Peter says angrily.  
“I know kid, I know,” Tony says sadly.  
Peter gulps down a sob, “But I’m sorry that I didn’t...I could’ve…I’m sorry.”  
“No kid.” Tony says firmly, “You did so much more...I can’t…” Tony can’t find the right words, “I’m just so glad you’re ok,” Tony says, laughing, as if to cover up the fact that he was on the verge of breaking, “And I’m sorry kid-”  
“No Tony, no.” Peter says, hugging him tighter. Tony’s chin rests on his head. Peter takes a shaky breath. Suddenly, his energy leaves him and his legs buckle and Tony catches him, sinking to the floor. Tony’s strong arms hold him tight and Peter let’s the tears fall down his cheeks, as he takes his first deep breath.

It’s a minute before Natasha comes running down the hall, stepping over unconscious HYDRA agents. She turns the corner and stops, finding Tony holding Peter tightly on the floor. The kid is gripping him hard, his face buried in Tony’s chest and Tony’s stroking his kid’s hair, holding him like he’s never going to let go. In that moment, Natasha finally makes her decision.   
She makes up her mind.   
Peter is his son. 

Clint has his feet up on the consol. He’d been playing darts for the past half an hour, each one hitting bullseye. When he got tired of that he started fixing the headphones Scott had broken on the way over here. Stupid Scott. He told him not to touch anything. He finally gives up on that and turns to something he can mend: a broken arrow shaft. He sets it down and clicks it into his contraption, making sure it works, when he feels a chill down his back. Clint looks up. Something doesn’t feel right. Actually, Clint hasn’t felt ‘right’ since he lost contact with Cap, but he figured that was a given when going into a HYDRA base. It was unnerving, but Clint couldn’t exactly leave the ship; he was the crew’s escape car.   
But this feeling was different. Something was wrong, and just because Clint couldn’t exactly leave the ship, that didn’t mean he couldn’t check it out. Clint slowly gets up from his chair and walks silently down the ship to the nearest window. He pushes his back up against the wall and moves over, before he peeks out of the window. Clint drops to the floor.   
Bullets shatter the window and glass rains down on him as he hits the ground hard on his stomach. He knows if he stays where he is he’ll get shot so he scrambles to his hands and knees, tucking and rolling to grab his bow and arrows before reaching up and pushing a button on the control panel on the dash. He hears and feels the ships’ guns fire on all sides and Clint ducks down again pressed against the wall, before he army crawls to the opposite side of the ship. He reaches up and jumps, catching the 5th ring of the ladder. Clint climbs up the side and into the tiny upper deck.   
Breathing hard, he pushes a button on his arm panel and a tiny slot opens up in the ship’s wall at eye level. He looks through and sucks in a breath. There are HYDRA agents surrounding his jet, the ones that were left at least. Many were sprawled face down on the grass. The remaining ones were still shooting, and Clint mumbled under his breath, sticking his bow and arrow through the hole as he hears the main level of his ship getting blown to bits. He lets the arrow fly and notches another one, again and again, the movement natural from his years of experience.   
It takes the enemies a while to realize where he’s shooting from, and Clint is able to take down a third of the remaining enemies before the bullets start getting a little too close for his liking. He moves away from his spot as the first bullet tears through the wall that he had just been leaning against. Clint drops back down to the main level and turns. The back hatch of the ship is shuddering, something being shoved against it. The door should hold, for now. But he’s got other problems. Clint looks and sees a security camera of some men trying to ruin their engines. He quickly flips on the power, and the engines fire up, blasting those people backward. Clint shuts off the engines and notches multiple arrows at once, backing into the corner, aiming at the shaking door. It crashes open and Clint let’s 5 arrows fly, taking down the first people that flood his jet. He shoots another one, then he gets up and slides forward, stabbing an arrow into a man’s leg and smacking someone off their feet with his bow. He hooks his leg around some’s knee and jerks it forward, spinning and elbowing an operative in the throat. He whirls with another arrow, notching it and stabbing it forward into someone's chest. He pulls it out and drops to his knee, trapping a foot in his bow and pulling it upward as he kicks another guy straight in the chest. The last one raises his gun but Hawkeye hits it away before flipping him over his shoulder and slamming him into the ground. Clint gets to his feet and brushes himself off, before picking up his bow and walking back to the console. The security camera that originally had men firing at his ship, now has them all face down on the grass. He was pretty sure he hadn’t done anything. Did they die on their own or something? He’s been in a lot of battles and that never happened. Before he can really think about what that means, Clint hears a noise and he turns, in one swift move, he fires an arrow. 

Wanda yelps and puts out her hand, stopping the arrow with red magic.  
“Nice of you to drop by,” Clint says, clipping his bow to his back, “Sorry about that.”  
Wanda flicks her finger aside and lets the arrow drop, giving him an annoyed look, “You could have killed me.”  
“But I didn’t,” Clint shrugs, before going over to her, “You ok?”  
“Yes. How about you?” Wanda asks.  
“Oh yeah, getting surrounded and shot at is always a blast,” Clint says dryly, “Is everyone alright?”  
“We think so,” Wanda says slowly.   
Clint kits his eyebrows, “I think it’s a yes or no answer. What do you mean you think so?”  
The Falcon drops into the ship, “We think so.”  
“Sam,” Clint nods.  
“Barton,” Sam says, shaking his hand. “Glad to see you’re all in one piece.”  
“The jet isn’t,” Clint spits angrily, looking around at the ship’s walls, peppered with holes.  
“Can you still fly her?” Sam asks.  
“I won’t know until she’s off the ground,” Clint says.   
“That’s helpful,”’ Wanda sighs.   
Clint shoots her another look, “Well aren’t you in a good mood?”  
Wanda smirks.  
“Update me,” Clint says, “I lost comms with you guys.”  
“We all did. We were set up. But we think we’ve gotten past that. We came to get you, although we didn’t have to do much. Most of the guys were already taken out by the time Wanda and I got here. And you handled yourself in here too I see,” Sam says, looking around at all the unconscious HYDRA agents.  
“I get it. You wish you could be as cool as me,” Hawkeye says dryly, “What about the team? Is everyone safe?”  
Sam pauses. Wanda answers the question. “Peter came,” she said slowly.  
Clint shakes his head, “Yeah well, we kinda knew that would happen. That’s Peter- wait, how? He can’t fly a ship, can he?” There were a lot of things Clint didn’t know about the kid, but he didn’t think that was one of them.  
“He brought some friends with him,” Wanda says, “There were these people named the Guardians of the Galaxy-”  
“Freaks from outer space,” Sam explains, “but they’re here to help. Peter split with them and went to go find Tony by himself. But I guess it’s for the best because we lost Tony on comms and tracking a while ago. Hopefully Peter found him.”  
Clint bites his lip. He hopes the kid is ok.   
“What about everyone else?” Hawkeye asks.  
“We got them all out, but then had to split up again. Vision went with Rhodey and Scott to go help Cap. Bucky’s...not Bucky and Cap made Scott leave him to fight the Winter Soldier alone,” Sam quickly moves on and Clint can’t help but share the feeling of worry. He’s known Cap longer than Sam has, and he would hate if anything happened to him. He was a great ally and leader in the battle of New York, and frankly, a good friend. Clint hasn’t hesitated when Cap had asked him for help even though he was retired. He believed in what Cap was fighting for, and he was proud to stand by him. He would gladly do it again. Yet because he was so close to Steve, Clint also knew what Bucky was going through. He himself had his mind controlled by Loki, and that was not fun.  
“The weirdos went to go take out anybody remaining. And Nat went to go look for Peter and Tony,” Sam finished.  
“Alone?” Clint says nervously.  
“She’ll be fine. That side of the building was mostly clear anyway,” Wanda assures him.   
He gives her a mocking smirk.  
“So what do we do? Now that you’re done checking up on me- thanks for that by the way,” Clint says, fingering an arrow.  
“Is there any way you can know for sure that you can still fly this thing?” Sam asks.  
Clint goes over to the dash and sinks into the chair, his fingers flying along the keyboard. He flicks on the engines and there’s an awful splutter and cracking noise from below. The engine makes a horrific crunching sound and there’s a big jolt as something clearly breaks.  
“So I’m guessing you can’t,” Sam sighs.  
“No Sam, judging from that noise I think it’s in great condition,” Clint smirks. “Look, I can fix it probably but that would take time and we don’t have time.”  
“Well the guardians have a ship that we can all pack into, so I say trash this one,” Sam suggests.  
“I liked this ship,” Clint says angrily.  
“Tony has plenty others,” Sam says, before his wings spread and he flies out of the back hatch, turning to look back at them, “Let’s go.”  
Wanda flicks her hands, shooting herself through the air with her red energy. Hawkeye sighs and walks down the ramp and onto the grass.  
“Hurry up old man,” Wanda winks, her tone a little sad, before she opens her palms, sending herself flying across the field to catch up with Sam.  
Clint sighs and notches two arrows, pointing them in their general direction, “Nobody would know. Nobody.”  
He sighs, his heart aching; he misses Pietro. Hawkeye puts down his bow and starts to jog towards the building. He couldn’t have any more of his friends dying.   
“Didn’t see that coming?” Clint whispers to himself. He looks back at the ship, decorated with holes and sighs, “It was such a nice ship.”  
He pushes a button and it explodes behind him in a ball of fire. Clint continues the long jog through the grass.   
Hawkeye shrugs, grumbling to himself, “I could use a lift, just saying. I don’t have wings, or weird red magic, I’m just a guy with a bow. Oh yeah him? He can run, he’ll be fine.”

Star Lord shoots his blaster at another guy in a black suit. The man is blown backward into another HYDRA agent and they crash to the floor. Quill turns and sees Gamora has ditched her sword and is now using a gun that looks a lot like his favorite one that he thought he had lost.  
“Is that my gun?” He asks incredulously.  
“Maybe,” she says, spinning and taking another shot, the blast decking a guy that’s halfway down the hall.   
“Did you steal my gun?” He exclaims, ignoring the battle in front of him. He even pauses the song that’s playing from his Zune.   
“Hey y’all prepare yourself for the rubberband ma-”  
“I borrowed it!” Gamora yells, kicking a guy in the chest.   
Quill shoots his two blasters again and hits someone across the fact with his elbow, “Without me knowing! So that’s technically considered stealing.”  
“Then technically, you stole my boots a week ago,” Gamora says, smiling fakely at him.  
“I wore them once!” Quill shouts, pointing a finger at her, “That’s not the same thing!”  
“You wore lady’s boots!” Drax roars in laughter while slashing with his knives, “That is hilarious!”  
“You’ve got issues Quill,” Rocket shakes his head and pulls Groot aside as Mantis makes a man fall to the ground and start snoring.  
“I do not! She said they were comfier than mine and I said that wasn’t true!” Quill protested.  
“I am Groot!” The tree smacks his leg.  
“No, I’m not turning the song back on,” Quill shakes his head.  
“I am Groot!” The tree insists, kicking him.  
“Ow. And no. I don’t care that it wasn’t done,” Quill says, “We’re having an argument!”  
“Can we put the argument on hold Peter?’ Gamora asks irritably.   
“Fine,” Quill grumbles.   
“I am GROOT!”  
“Fine!” Quill yells again, resuming the song.  
“You’ve never heard a sound like the rubberband man. You’re bound to lose control when the rubber band starts to jam…”  
They’ve successfully cleared the hallway and Drax shouts loudly, raising his knives, “Yes! Another victory!”  
Rocket slings his big gun over his shoulder and sighs, “Can we go please?”  
“Yes,” Quill says, making his way over to the door. He steps through cautiously, checking left and right and puts up his hand in a fist, the signal to Stop. Everyone, even Groot, walks past him and Peter sighs. Typical.   
Turns out, there’s nothing in the room. He straightens and looks around. It looks like some type of control room. There are screens everywhere and Quill realizes the people that ran these machines were the ones out in the hallway; the room was deserted.   
“Um excuse me, but what is that?” Mantis asks, pointing.   
Quill walks over to Mantis and follows her gaze, which through a window in a door. Quill blasts the door lock and then kicks the door open.   
It looks like some sort of electrical box, with buttons and wires all around it.  
“It looks like the core,” Drax says.  
“The core,” Quill snickers. “What planet are you from?” he scoffs, before he shakes his head, “Don’t answer that. This isn’t like my dad, but I’m guessing it’s the same principle. It’s definitely the main energy source”  
“The winged man told us to blow it up,” Drax reminded everyone.  
“We can do that,” Quill shrugs.  
“Yeah, yeah great job guys good work,” Rocket says sarcastically before he puts up his hand, “Slow down there Star Prince, there’s a problem to that.”  
“Yeah? And what’s the problem?” Quill asks.  
“You knock out the core and either we blow the whole building with the reaction it causes, or everything goes pitch black. You can override circuits if the we max out the power.”  
“What are you Einstein?” Star Lord grumbles.  
“No he is Rocket,” Drax says.  
“It’s an expression Drax, I know who the idiot is,” Quill says, “And so what? We get a little power outage, big deal.”  
“We’re fighting blind and we’re probably screwing all of those other weirdly dressed people we just met too,” Rocket points out.  
“Since when have you cared about other people?” Quill raises an eyebrow.  
“Right around the time when you became a total jerk,” Rocket snaps back, “I’m just saying that we need to plan it out because this place might explode or something, and I don’t really feel like dying today!”  
“Fine,” Quill says.  
Rocket whips out a little detonator from his side pouch and cranks the side of it, “How many minutes?” Rocket asks.  
“1,” Drax says, “I accept the challenge.”  
“You’re an idiot,” Rocket sighs, “10?”  
“Make it 13, just to be safe,” Quill says.   
Rocket sets the charge and then looks at the weird electric box, “I know you can’t fit in there Quill and I don’t think I can either…”  
“Hey what’s that supposed to mean?” Quill asks, offended. Drax makes a horizontal motion around his stomach and nods.  
“Hey!” Quill says angrily.  
Rocket ignores him, “Groot I need you to go in there and set this down right behind that box ok?”   
The tree looks at him blankly, taking the bomb in his hands.  
“Repeat what I said,” Rocket tells him.  
Groot looks down at the bomb and then at the electrical box, “I am Groot,”  
Rocket nods, crossing his arms, “Yes.”  
Groot points at the button in the center, “I am Groot?”  
“No!” Rocket runs his paws over his face, “I didn’t tell you to push a button! No button pushing, I’m doing it manually. Just go in there and put that on the floor, ok?”  
Groot points at the button, “I am Groot?”  
“No,” Rocket says, “Because that would start the timer.”  
“What is with you and buttons?” Quill asks Rocket, “This has happened before!”   
“Yeah well this time at least we’d have 13 minutes till it blows up and not right away!” Rocket says.  
“Doesn’t matter! Next time, make something without buttons,” Quill says.  
“Oh, so somehow this is my fault?” Rocket says angrily.  
“Yeah it is! Stop making buttons for him to push!” Quill splutters.  
“Yeah well, do you have tape?” Rocket snaps, “Because tape would solve our problems and you should have some for situations like this, and you didn’t have it last time! So it’s just as much as your fault as it is mine.”  
“Oh so you admit it’s your fault,” Quill smirks.  
“Just give me the tape!” Rocket shouts.  
“I don’t have tape!” Quill shouts.  
“Double sided or regular?” Drax asks.  
“Either is fine,” Rocket sighs.  
“I don’t have it,” Drax says.  
“Why would you ask which kind if you don’t-” Rocket yells before he’s cut off.  
“Enough!” Gamora shouts.  
Rocket sighs and looks back to Groot, who is no longer in front of him, but squeezing behind the box.  
“Oh no,” Gamora says, pressing her hands against her temples.  
“If he pushes it, I’m grounding him,” Rocket warns, “We can set the timer last last.”  
Groot comes back out, smiling. Rocket looks at the device on his arm, “Or we can get it first and improvise! He pushed it, we have 13 minutes.”  
“Great,” Quill groans, “Groot?!”  
“I am Groot!” The tree insists.  
“I did not say push it! I said don’t push it!” Rocket yells back at him.   
“We need to get everyone out. I’ll hack the comms again,” Quill says.  
“I should do it. My voice sounds more professional,” Rocket says.  
“No way,” Quill says, already walking out the door and speaking into his comms. His voice echoed down the hallway from the speaker and he swatted away Rocket who was trying to grab his wrist, “Um, hi, it’s Star Lord. We uh might have set off a timer that will count down and explode the entire building in a little over 12 minutes. Sorry about that. So if you all could get out of the building that would be great. Thanks.”  
“That’s not going to work, what if they’re in trouble Peter?’ Gamora asked.  
Quill bit his lip, “You’re right. Especially the kid.” Star Lord thought for a second, before he clasped his hands, “Ok here’s the plan-”  
“Can I just say something?” Rocket says.  
“What?” Quill says.  
“If I had a nickel for every time you came up with a good plan do you know how much money I would have?” Rocket asks.  
“15 dollars and 109 cents,” Drax states.  
“Thank you Drax,” Quill grinned before he frowned, “Wait-”  
“Zero cents,” Rocket says, “I’d be broke. Your plans suck Quill.”  
“We have 10 minutes,” Mantis pipes up.   
“I’m making the plan for a change,” Gamora buts in before Quill and Rocket can start arguing again, “Peter you go with Drax and I. Mantis, go with Rocket and Groot. Be aware of the time, and go find the rest of the group and get out. Ok? Ok.”  
Gamora grabs Quill’s jacket and drags him down the hallway.   
“Any particular reason I came with you?” Quill grins.  
“Yes,” Gamora says.  
Quill stops, looking at her, “Really?”  
Gamora looks him in the eye, “Yeah,” she says softly leaning closer. “So you and Rocket don’t kill each other before we get out of the building. There’s no unspoken thing.”   
She punches him the gut and walks off down the hallway.  
“Ow!” Quill groans.   
Drax is shaking his head at him, “Quill, I’ve told you. Find someone pathetic. Gamora is not pathetic. And she’s not a dancer.”  
“Maybe you just haven’t seen her dance,” Quill grumbles, before following them down the hallway.

Scott almost forgets which way to go. Things look a lot different when you’re small, and he backtracked a couple of times, before he finally found the right hallway.  
“There!” Scott shouts, running and stopping at the closed door. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Bucky helping Cap to his feet.   
“Cap!” He shouted.  
Steve turned, and Scott had to wince. He was holding his chest and he had a black eye and a nasty bruise forming on his jaw. Nevertheless, he and Bucky made their way over to the door.  
“Is everyone ok?” Cap shouts, his voice muffled through the door.   
“Yeah, yeah, stand back, Vision’s gonna blast through the door lock,” Scott says.  
Scott steps back and Steve and Bucky move out of sight. Vision’s stone heats up, and a beam hits the door lock, exploding the wall around it. Rhodes and Scott go for the door and shove it as hard as they can. Cap and Bucky are shoving on the other side and it finally opens. Cap and Bucky stumble out and Scott grabs Steve’s arms.   
“Hey Cap, you good?” Scott asks.  
Steve nods, blinking and shaking his head, gripping his shield, “Yeah.”  
Steve makes his rounds, clasping hands with Vision and Rhodes. Scott looks at Bucky who frowns and says, “I’m sorry Scott, I don’t remember what-”  
“Hey, don’t worry about it. It’s good to have you back Buck,” Scott smiles.  
Then Steve grabs his arm, “Where’s Stark?”  
“We don’t know, we have to go find them, all of them. And the guardians just came on comms. This building is about to blow so we all need to get out of here,” Scott says nervously.  
Steve knits his eyebrows, “Guardians?”  
Scott remembers Steve hadn’t met them yet, “Oh yeah, weird people things from space, here to help, really like 70’s music?”  
“That’s what that song was,” he says thoughtfully.  
“Yeah,” Scott says before leading the group down the hallway, “Oh and another thing, Peter came. That little rebel went to go find Tony, and I’m hoping he did, because,” Scott taps his ear, “Comms are down. Nat went to look for the two of them.”  
“If anything happened to Peter…” Steve trails off.  
“Nothing happened to him,” Scott assures Steve, “He’s a good kid. And he’s smart and tough. He knows how to fight. We should have brought him in the first place because I think we both knew he wouldn’t stay home.”  
Steve nods, raising his eyebrows, “So what do we do?”  
Rhodes clears his throat, “If we can get outside, we should be good. How big of a bomb were they talking about?”  
“I’m not sure, but I do detect some high levels of energy coming from the main room. A blast might cause a chain reaction throughout the whole building,” Vision states.  
“We need to get out of here now,” Scott says, “Wanda and Sam went to go make sure Clint was ok. Nat should hopefully be with Peter and Tony, and the Guardians have to be somewhere.”  
“So we make it back to the ship and wait for everyone?” Steve asks, “That’s the plan?”  
“Right now I’ve got nothing better Cap. Maybe we can get comms back on when we get to the ship?” Scott suggests.  
“Shouldn’t we look for them? Make sure they get out ok?” Steve asks.  
“It will be a game of tag if we all stay in here Steve,” Rhodes says grimly, “I don’t like it either, but it’s the best option right now.”  
“I agree. We need to get moving,” Scott says, “This whole building’s gonna blow in 10 minutes.”

Tony and Peter go first down the hallway, Nat covering their back. When the few remaining HYDRA agents come around the corner, Peter and Tony are ready. Iron Man blasts a man in the chest, ducking as Nat takes out another with her pistol. Peter lunges forward, and Tony can’t help but smile as the kid talks as he fights.  
“Hey that’s not nice. Hitting is not ok. Didn’t your mom ever tell you that?” Peter chides. The teenager flips, landing behind the agent and tisking, “Aw so close buddy. Safety’s on. Made you look.”  
Tony grins and another beam decks 3 of the remaining men. Natasha shoots the gun that a man is trying to pick up and Peter webs up the last one from his spot on the ceiling, hanging upside down. Tony lowers his hand, Natasha lets her empty bullet drop from her gun as she reloads, and Peter drops to the floor.   
“That was fun. Nice party,” Tony says through his helmet.  
“I don’t see how that’s a party,” Natasha smirks.   
“Good job kid,” Tony winks at Peter.   
“Thanks Tony,” Peter grins. His suit’s mask recedes to his neck, and Tony can’t help but look him over again, all flashy and professional. He was really taking keys from the master now. Tony was so proud of Peter in that suit, and he couldn’t help but just grin at him. Peter caught his eye and smiled back knowingly, and he and Tony had a little moment.  
“As much as I love this, we have 9 minutes before the building explodes, so I would suggest we hurry?” Natasha says, hiding a smirk.  
“That would be smart,” Tony says, and he leads the run down the hallway.   
“Who’s out and who’s not out?” Nat asks him as they turn corners according to Peter’s directions.  
“How am I supposed to know?” Tony grumbles, “FRIDAY’s running on low power and this suit is barely functioning.”  
“I can run scanners,” Peter says at his side. Gosh, he loves that kid.  
Peter pauses, then says, “Ummmm, Clint blew the ship up.”  
“He what?” Nat and Tony both shout.  
“Yeah the ship they came in, Karen’s reading says it blew up. Wanda, Sam and Barton are making their way inside. And then there are 3 groups of people in this building.”  
“3?” Tony knits his eyebrows. Maybe the group split into 2, but Tony doubted they would thin themselves out to three.  
“Peter’s friends,” Nat nods.  
“Peter’s friends?” Tony asks, raising his eyebrows at Peter who blushes.  
“Yeah, they were passing by in their spaceship and they got your distress signal,” Peter supplies helpfully.  
“You’re kidding,” Tony says dryly, “This isn’t some movie reference or anything?” He just wants to make sure.  
“Dead serious. And the guy’s name is Peter so that’s cool,” Peter said happily, “Hey you’ll get to meet them! I bet you’ll really like each other.”  
“Is that so? Well we’ll see about that,” Tony says. “FRIDAY can you establish comms?”  
“Not yet sir, I’m sorry.”  
“Take your time, don’t worry about it,” Tony says, trying to hide his fear. Tony’s mind is whirling. Is everyone out? Or better yet, will everyone get out in time?  
Just then Peter shouts next to him, “Peter!”  
Before Tony can ask why he screamed his own name, his kid runs forward, giving the surprised man that rounded the corner a hug. Tony is slightly jealous, but he’d never let Peter know that.   
The man has a long leather jacket on with blasters at his belt. On either side is a person, one is a green woman, the other a rather large angry looking purple man. Tony turns his attention back to his kid who is talking to ‘Peter’ with big hand motions. The man grins and ruffles Peter’s hair. Tony blinks and feels his chest heat up with even more jealousy. He does that. That’s his kid.  
Yet now, Peter’s pointing at Tony and dragging the man over to him.  
“So you’re Peter’s dad,” the man stuck out his hand, winking at Peter.  
Tony smiled, a little shocked. The jealousy immediately melts away. Peter had told this guy he was his dad? Peter smiled at Tony, his ears turning red and Tony grinned back at him.  
He turned back and shook the outstretched hand, “Yeah, and you are?”  
“Well this is half of the Guardians of the Galaxy. I’m Peter, but you can call me Star Lord so you don’t get me confused with your kid,” he said, winking at Peter.  
“I’m Gamora, and this is Drax,” the woman said, pointing to the other person.  
“So what’s the plan Stark?” Natasha asks. “We don’t have much time.”  
“Ok here’s what we’ll do-” He paused, “Star Munch can you get your people over here- is he yawning?” Tony exclaimed, looking incredulously at Drax, “Are you yawning while I’m making the plan?” Tony asked angrily.  
“I’m not gonna answer to Star Munch,” Quill grumbles, but Tony ignores him.  
“Can you just get them- thank you.” He raises his eyebrows, “So apparently you planted a bomb somewhere and we have how many minutes now?”  
“8,” Gamora said.  
“8 minutes,” Tony sucked in a breath, “Ok. Honestly I think the best thing to do would be to leave. Go outside, and find everyone. We’ll do no use going circles in here trying to find people who already are out.” Tony rubs his head, “But we don’t have a ship, because genius Client decided to blow it up. Peter do you know why?”  
“No,” Peter shrugged.  
“We have no ship,” Tony said, before looking at Quill, “Do you have a ship?”  
“Yeah I have a ship,” Quill says proudly. “Best ship in the galaxy.”  
“Let’s hope so,” Tony says, “Where’s the rest of your group?”  
“They went to pick up any more stranglers. They’ll get out in time,” Quill assured him.  
“Ok,” Tony didn’t really care who they were, as long as they got all of his friends out of the building.  
“Shall we go?” Natasha said, “Or are we just going to wait around for the building to explode?”  
“Why did you set off a bomb in the first place? Just curious?” Tony asks as they started to jog towards the exit. (Every once in a while Peter would sprout out directions).  
Quill sighs, “Well we weren’t supposed to, but Groot accidently pushed the button on purpose, and it started the countdown. Rocket was supposed to do it manually, but then we had to change the plans.”  
“Groot and Rocket?” Tony asks.  
“Tree and Raccoon,” Peter pipes up.  
“Wow,” Tony says shaking his head. “Ok. Well thanks for that Star Prince.”  
Quill obviously didn’t get the sarcasm, “No problem. It’s what we do.”  
“Yeah,” Tony winced, “and what is it that you do?”  
“We save the Galaxy, metal man,” Drax said in a low voice, laughing and clutching his two knives.  
Tony blinked, the guy reminded him a bit of Thor, “No offense but your vacuous band of misfits don’t exactly strike me as the saving the galaxy type of people.”  
“Dude, don’t call us vacuous,” Quill said with annoyance, “We don’t know what it means.”  
Tony tried so hard not to smirk. He tried so hard.   
They had made it to the main door and Tony heard people running down the opposite hallway. He turned and breathed a sigh of relief.  
Cap, Scott, Rhodes, Bucky, and Vision were running to meet them. Tony makes eye contact with Rogers and they both smile, surging forward to clasp hands.   
Tony claps him on the back, gripping his shoulder, “Cap. Thanks for coming,”  
“I told you you would need me Tony,” Steve says weakly, smirking.  
“Yeah well I didn’t use the flip phone Rogers,” Tony says back. He gets a good look at Cap, and winces. He took a beating, most likely from Bucky, who is next to him. Cap hated hurting his friends, especially Bucky, and even Tony knew it was hard back before the whole Sokovia Accords to fight the guy when he was the Winter Soldier.   
“Wait so that guy just beat up that guy and he’s on our side?” Tony hears Quill whisper behind him.  
“It’s complicated,” Peter whispers back.  
“Is that a metal arm?” Quill asks.  
“It’s very complicated,” Peter corrects himself.  
“Don’t let that near Rocket, he’s got a thing for prosthetics- Peter Quill, Guardians of the Galaxy, nice to meet you Captain America.” Quill clears his throat and shakes Cap’s hand.  
“Does anyone have any orange slices?” Scott asks around.  
Tony laughs and gives him a firm handshake, “What is with you and orange slices Lang?”  
“Hey, don’t judge me Stark,” Scott says, shaking it.   
Rhodey gives Tony a hug, “I’m glad you’re ok,”  
Tony hugs him back, “Me too. You good? Your legs-”  
Rhodes nodded, “Wanda fixed me up temporarily. Not as good as new, but close enough.”  
Tony shakes his head, “Rhodes, I’m sorry I-”  
“Tony, don’t beat yourself up,” Rhodes says, “You did all you could,”  
“Thanks man,” Tony says sincerely.  
The group is slowly walking out the door, now on the ground outside of the building. Tony looks around, doing a headcount.  
“Rocket where are you guys?” Quill calls into the comm.  
“Up your butt and around the corner-” comes the response from the speaker.   
Then Tony hears a voice behind him, “Hey Quill how’s it going?”  
Tony turns around and sees a raccoon, talking into his wrist speaker. He blinks, and then it just gets weirder: a tiny tree and a girl with antennas sticking out of her head.   
“Is this everyone? Peter do you have eyes on Barton, Wanda and Sam?” Tony asks his kid, who hasn’t left his side.  
“Actually we have eyes on you,” someone says. Tony knows that voice.  
“Legolas! Heard you blew up my ship!” Tony says angrily, turning to face Hawkeye. Wanda and Sam from down next to him, greeted by the other Avengers.  
“It was dead,” Barton shrugs, “Got surrounded by agents but I took care of it. Engines went out and the whole plane got shot up,” Hawkeye shrugs, “I would pay you back but I’m broke so I guess I’ll just take the loss.”  
“You owe me a quarter million,” Tony tells him. Clint laughs. Tony turns back to the problem at hand and asks Star Lord, “Quill you said you have a ship?”   
“Yeah, I’m getting it now. It’s like flying a drone. I suck at this,” he’s fiddling with something on his arm.   
Then there’s a voice from the speakers, “Avengers.”  
Everyone turns, looking back toward the building.   
“Choices. Decisions. The hardest ones are made with so little time.”  
“Quill how many minutes?” Tony asks.  
“2 and a half,” Quill says, checking his watch.  
“And now I’m going to make you chose. You’ve set up a bomb inside the building, which basically means you’ve lit a spark atop a pile of TNT. Underneath this building is advanced weaponry, and you don’t have to be a genius to know that fires spread quickly, choking everything in its path. If you let it spark, it will no doubt destroy everything within a 30 mile radius.”  
“How close is the nearest town?” Cap says firmly.  
“15 miles,” Clint says.  
“If not more. So you have 2 minutes to make a decision. And I’m sorry but I can’t stay to watch you lose.”  
Tony sees a jet take off from the back of the building. He raises his hand to shoot a beam from his repulsor, but it’s too far. He curses.  
“Language,” Cap says, trying to lighten the mood, “Sorry, it just slipped out.”  
“We’ll meet again-“  
“No. No we won’t,” says a voice behind him.   
Just then Tony hears 2 shots and they trail the ship in a line of fire, catching up to it and exploding the jet like a firework in the sky.   
“Sorry. I was tired of his monologue,” Quill spat.  
Tony turns around and sees Quill with his finger on a panel on his arm. His gaze is fierce.   
“Thank you,” Tony said shakily.  
“Don’t mention it,” Quill grumbled, his expression still a frown. On any other day Tony was sure he would have a smile on his face, but not at this moment in time.   
“What do we do?” Wanda asked, wringing her hands.  
“We have to stop the bomb,” Tony says. His head is spinning.  
Out of the corner of his eye he sees Peter talking with Rocket, his kid’s voice getting louder and louder. Tony catches a few words.  
“The type...alternating current could redirect...how many amps...the capacitor would implode and...I can suck all of the oxygen…”  
Before Tony can ask what it all means Peter turns and looks at him. Peter clenches his jaw and holds his left wrist, a nervous tendency that he had picked up from Tony from all the times he had done that. There’s a weird look in his kid’s eyes and Tony doesn’t like it.   
“Pete,” he says. It’s not a question, and Tony doesn’t say anything else, but his tone says it all, and Peter’s reaction confirms his worst fears.   
Peter winces and looks at him again, “Tony…”   
Again, it wasn’t a question, and Peter doesn’t say anything else, but his tone of voice and the look in his eyes is enough to make Tony’s heartbeat speed up. The pieces of the puzzle are lined up, and it all clicks into place. Tony never liked puzzles.  
Peter bites his lip and backs away from him, looking over his shoulder at the building. Then he keeps backing up, slowly, as if testing what Tony is going to. How far will he let him go?   
It all hits Tony at once and he understands what his son is about to do. And he definitely doesn’t like it. Tony gives Peter the best glare he can muster. “Peter,” Tony warns.  
“Tony I can do this,” the kid says, almost pleading. He gets his science look in his eyes, a look that usually came from when he was doing his homework or working on suits, not when he’s about to run into a building that’s about to explode.  
“I can reverse the current, if I can alter it just a little and use the capacitor, and Karen can draw out all the oxygen in the room and I can contain the explosion and -”  
No. No way. “Let me do it then!” Tony says angrily, his voice raising.  
“FRIDAY isn’t ready yet! She can’t do it, but Karen can. You wouldn’t be able to. But I could,” Peter yelled. “You know that!”  
Tony was gaining on him and when he got close enough without Peter noticing, he finally just lunges forward before his kid can sprint, grabbing Peter’s arm. Tony shakes his head, “Peter no, you’re not going in there.”  
Peter shook his head violently back, trying to pull away, “I have to shut off the bomb! Tony I’m the only one who can do this!”  
“No!” Tony shouts, before lowering his voice and locking eyes with Peter, “I almost lost you once, I can’t lose you again,” Tony says. His voice is firm and his glare is fierce, “We’re not having this conversation.”  
“1 and a half minutes,” Quill reports nervously from behind them.  
Tony shakes his head, “We’ll find another way-”  
“There is no other way!” Peter yells, pointing to the building, “We’re all going to die and maybe other people will too if I don’t go in there and shut this thing down. Tony you know I have to do this. Let me do it!”  
“Kid I can’t…” Tony shakes his head, “No.”  
“Why?” Peter yells.  
“Why? Because I said so!” Tony yells back. Peter backs off a little.   
There’s silence and a staring contest.  
Tony wins.  
“Fine,” Peter says grumpily. He stops pulling away and walks forward. Tony breathes a sigh of relief and let’s go of his arm. They start to walk back to the circle of people who had been watching in awe.  
“Tony?” Peter says quietly at his side.  
“What kid?” Tony says.  
“I love you dad, I’m sorry,” Peter says, webbing Tony’s foot to the ground. Then he turns and sprints towards the building.   
“What the-Peter!” Tony twists and grasps for him and misses to his dismay, falling on his hands and knees.  
“Peter, no!” Tony yells, cutting through the web and firing up his thruster boots to go and get his son but someone grabs his arm.  
“Stark no. I can only lose one friend today,” Quill says, “I’m not losing another one.” His voice is sad but firm, as is his grip.   
Tony can’t believe it, Peter webbed him. He webbed him! And now he’s shooting another web and flinging himself forward, into the building, into danger, his legs running so fast they’re a blur. And Tony can’t-  
“PETER!” He yells again, his voice cracking.  
“He can do it Tony. He’s a smart kid,” Scott says nervously.  
“And he’s my kid!” Tony shoves off Quill but then Rhodes steps in front of him, putting a hand out on his metal chest and sadly shaking his head.  
“Tony, you can’t go in there. Don’t go after him,” Rhodes says.  
“Yes I can and I will, that’s my SON!” Tony tries in vain to push past his friends, calling his kid’s name. “Peter,” Tony yells.   
It’s too late. His red and blue suit has already disappeared behind the corner. Every last bit of fight Tony has leaves him and his head spins as he staggers into a pair of arms, shaking his head. It’s Cap who steadies him, trying to calm him down.   
“He’ll be ok Tony,” Steve assured him, “He’ll be ok.”   
“He’s just a kid Steve!” Tony tightens his jaw and shakes his head, gripping Caps arm, “He’s just a kid...”  
“He’ll be ok Tony,” Cap says again, but even he can’t hide the doubt in his voice.  
What if he isn’t ok? What if he doesn’t come out of that building? What if-  
What if Tony never gets to see his kid again? The kid that’s saved Tony’s life in more ways than he could ever imagine. Tony hadn’t protected him yet again. He should have gone after him. He should go right now, but Tony is weak and he can’t push away Cap’s strong arms; he can barely stand. So he doesn’t. He falls to his knees, just staring in shock.   
It would be his fault, he realizes. Tony thought he’d failed enough for the day, in his life even, but turns out he hadn’t. Because he had just failed again. Even worse, he’d failed Peter, his son.  
“1 minute.” Rocket says hesitantly.  
There’s 15 people, and none of them say a word.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comment what you think! Thanks for reading and stay tuned!!!


	13. I got you first :)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Long chapter and man it's packed!  
> I don't want to reveal to much so all I will say is that in this chapter, Peter calls Tony dad and it's normal you don't even think about it it's great, and you understand the title :)... (which becomes a Tony Peter thing from now on).  
> Enjoy! And thank you SO MUCH for all your comments- they make my day! I'm glad you all love this story! :)  
> Much more to come!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh and sorry because there are some oofs in the first part. Poor Peter doesn't exactly come out unscathed. :/

Peter flings himself through the hallway, Karen’s voice muffled in his ears. He’s been counting down ever since he webbed Tony-  
Oh gosh, Mr. Stark was going to kill him if Peter got back.  
When Peter got back. He wondered if Tony would ground him or something. He wouldn’t be surprised. Focus, Peter, focus. He has 40 seconds. Peter wills himself to go faster, even though his energy was slowly being drained away. Peter’s next web is sloppy and it misses the wall. With a cry, he pitches forward, falling to the floor. Peter bites his lip hard when he hits the floor, rolling until he comes to a stop, sprawled out on the tile. He scrambles to his feet and keeps running, cursing himself for being so careless and wasting precious time.  
30 seconds.  
Peter finally reaches the control room and looks to the side, following Rocket’s directions. He sees the door, and runs over. He shoots a web at the detonator and it flings into his hand. Peter slides to a stop and turns it over in his palm. The clock is blinking:  
20..19...18…  
Shoot. Peter pries the back off and starts fiddling with the wires.  
“Karen, taser web! We’ve got to override the circuits, keep it coming!” Peter cries.  
“Yep.”  
He brings his two fingers to his palm and shoots it at the exposed wires. A couple of them burst on the spot, other melt, but a lot of them zap, shocking his hand, causing Peter to drop the detonator. It lands on the clock side and blinks.  
13...12...11…  
Peter doesn’t know if he made the bomb less or more explosive. He hopes less. Time for Part 2.  
“Karen suck out all of the oxygen! Use their venting system!” Peter shouts, looking around the room for vents she could use. His heart stops, there’s no way Karen could do it time..  
“I already have.” His A.I. says.  
“I love you Karen!” Peter shouts, his heart beating again.  
Get out of there Peter!” Karen says nervously, “You’re going to pass out. You need oxygen.”  
“Yeah...that makes...sense,” Peter slurs. He stumbles to the door, his head spinning. No wonder he was lightheaded. He was losing air. Peter blinks away the dizziness, all of his senses out of whack. He gets out the door and tries to shove it closed behind him. It won’t budge. He gets panicked, shoving the door again.  
“Karen shut the door!” Peter cries, pushing it with all of his might. It moves three inches.  
“I can’t-” Karen says.  
6...5…  
“Peter run!” His A.I. urges  
“No!” Peter yells, “I need to shut the door-”  
3...  
Peter looks in the room, his enhanced eyesight lets him see the clock.  
2…  
With a yell through grit teeth, Peter shoves the door shut with the last bit of strength he has.  
1...

 

“Tony?”  
Tony looks up, sees no one, and shuts his helmet, “FRIDAY?”  
“I’m fully functioning sir,” His A.I. says happily.  
“Start work on repairs, trash the backup to conserve energy. It’s good to have you back FRIDAY,” Tony said.  
“It’s good to be back sir. Starting repairs now.”  
“30 seconds,” Rocket says from behind them.  
Tony is pacing. That kid should not have gone in alone.  
“FRIDAY, run a scan of the building once I get close enough,” Tony commands.  
There’s a pause. “But aren’t you staying? You friends strongly believe that you-”  
“Since when have I listened to the rules?” Tony snaps.  
“That is true sir. Ready to run scan.”  
“Thank you,” Tony says.  
“10 seconds,” Rocket says, looking very uncomfortable.  
Tony’s heart stops. Please kid, come on, come on.  
Rockets starts counting down. Everyone is ready to blast away if need be. Wanda’s got her energy swirling around her, Bucky, and Hawkeye, Sam’s got a grip on Steve’s arm, and the guardians have their jetpacks or something. Everyone is ready to leave. He has a feeling they won’t though, even if things do go wrong. Tony knows it, because he will never leave without Peter.  
Rocket starts counting down, “5, 4, 3, 2...1.”  
Tony’s heart skips a beat. Please God, God, save his kid. Please no. Not Peter.  
There’s a rumble, and fire blows out from the side windows. Glass crashes to the ground.  
“The device was contained on upper level. None reached the weaponry,” FRIDAY reported.  
“He did it. The kid did it,” Quill grinned.  
“Yeah but where’s my kid?” Tony says. There’s fire coming out of the windows, and bits of the building, especially the hanger, start to collapse in on itself.  
Tony’s seen enough. He turns, his helmet receding to his neck, “Don’t wait for me,” he says. The helmet goes around his face again and before anyone can stop him, he takes off toward the building. 

Peter hates the silence between the blast. The millisecond of silence, after the 1 turns to 0, but before the explosion actually happens. Peter sucks in a breath and then he sees a huge white light blow up right in front of him. The room explodes, the glass window near his face shattering. Peter just has time to thank God he has this suit. If he was in his old one, the glass that bounced off his metal would have gone straight into his skin. Peter barely feels the shockwave hit, and he scrunches his eyes up, bracing, although he knows it won’t do much good. His feet come off the ground and feels himself thrown backward down the long hallway, crashing through a wall, and just...going flying. Peter can’t breath; his lungs are tight. He feels bones break as he smashes into things, the whole level already encased in fire. Debris hits him and he gets smacked into another wall. He can’t tell if Karen is talking to him, he can’t even breath. He closes his eyes again, the swirling room making him dizzy, and Peter’s too weak to even try and shoot a web to stop himself. He tumbles, head over heels, hitting the ground, the ceiling, crushing his head, his chest- He finally comes to a stop by enduring the worst pain possible: hitting a wall full force and this time not crashing through...just smacking into it hard and dropping to the floor. Peter gasps for breath underneath the debris, crumpled on the ground. He gasps and gasps, his lungs burning to take in oxygen.  
“Peter? Peter...calm down. Take a deep breath. Peter, you need to slow your breathing,” Karen says, but Peter can’t hear her. His ears are ringing from the blast. There’s fire all around him, at least that’s what Peter thinks the yellow and orange flickers are. His eyesight is blurry and Peter blinks, realizing his mask is half ripped off his face. He wills the rest of his beat up mask to recede to his neck and Peter coughs, crying out in pain as he grips the ground, trying to steady himself. There’s smoke everywhere and Peter’s head is spinning. He probably has a concussion and his chest is burning and in pain. He knows that feeling: broken ribs, lots of them. He feels his nose bleeding, and a huge scrape on his cheek from where his suit had been torn off. Peter gets shakily to his feet, still coughing. Everything hurts. Especially...his side.  
Peter looks down and cries out in a mixture of pain and shock. There’s something sticking out of his side, it’s not big (thank God) and he doesn’t know what it is, just that it hurts like heck.  
He crumples to his knees, still coughing, trembling hands cupping the space around the wound but never actually touching it. He can’t bear too.  
“Oh God,” Peter gasps, before coughing again, and that hurts his stomach. The pain is so great Peter almost doesn’t feel it, which he doesn’t think is a good sign.  
“It hasn’t punctured any organs yet,” Karen says.  
“Thanks Karen.” Peter slurs, his words not forming correctly. That’s not good. Peter feels his strength ebbing away and his head started to feel heavy. He’s got to get this thing out before it punctures an organ.  
Peter grips the edge of it, bracing himself for the pain as he slowly pulls it out. Peter almost goes unconscious from the pure agony. He grits his teeth but a small cry of pain still escapes his clamped teeth and now Peter is gasping in smoke, holding the blood soaked piece of debris in his trembling hands. Peter lets the piece of metal fall to the floor in distaste. His breathing sounds awful: raspy and slow, and Peter coughs again, holding his arm up to his face to try and filter out some bits of smoke. All he can see is fire, black air, and the remains of the building around him. Peter gets up slowly again, and clutches his side. He stumbles back into the wall, holding it for support, coughing again, his legs trembling and threatening to give out underneath him. He pleads them not to, knowing they could buckle any minute and he could crash face first into the floor before he would realize he fell.  
Karen’s voice reaches his ears, and it echoes, ringing with high pitches, “Peter you need to stay awake and get out of here. Go straight.”  
Peter doesn’t move. Everything's slowing down. His hands are trembling and he can’t stop coughing, blinking tears out of his eyes. Peter doesn’t know if he’s crying from the pain, in shock, or from the smoke. He knows he can’t make his limbs function. Too many broken bones. To many broken ribs. Too much pain everywhere. Too much fear- fear of failure, fear of death. His suit is practically gone in his chest area, revealing his old one. There’s black smoke, soot and scratches littering that fabric too. He’s bleeding from multiple wounds, especially the side one, and he pushes his hand against it to try and stop the bleeding. Karen’s already put some webbing on it with the suit but it’s even bleeding through that. He webs it up a little more with his trembling hand. Peter just wants to go home, or find Tony- that’s all he wants- although he knows leaning against the wall isn’t helping him achieve that. Peter has never really been scared, but right now, he was. He was scared because he was in pain. He was scared because he was weak. Peter hated the feeling, and he hated he couldn’t do anything about it.  
“The building is unstable. You need to get out of here now,” Karen warns, her voice hurting his head.  
Peter doesn’t answer, he just lets out a whimper, gasping against the wall.  
“Peter,” His A.I.’s voice is urgent and firm.  
“Yeah…” Peter coughs, staggering forward, getting to a limp, then a brisk walk, and finally into a weak jog. He’s coughing so hard his throat hurts and his eyes sting from the smoke. The fire is getting worse, licking at his feet as he runs and he feels his lungs closing up, making it even harder to breath than it already was. He’s covered in soot and smoke.  
“Left,” Karen says, “Come on Peter!”  
“Mask,” Peter coughs, “I need...mask…”  
“It’s damaged, I’m working on it’s repair,” Karen sounds miserable.  
Peter stumbles forward, taking awful scratchy breaths. There’s a rumble and the ceiling in front of him caves in. There’s a huge blast of fire that hits his left side, flickering across his suit. Peter cries out and staggers back as parts of his exposed arm get burned from where the metal had shipped off. He stumbles, hands over his head, falling to the ground and scooting backward as his world crumbles around him. He can’t scoot too far because there’s fire on the other side so Peter finds himself curled up in the center, his head whirling back and forth, tears streaming down his cheeks, as his eyes flick over every inch of the room that’s surrounding him. Pieces of ceiling (small ones) rain down on him and Peter ducks, curling up tight and trying his best to shield himself as they crash to the floor. Peter coughs from the dust, raising himself on one elbow. He clutches his side and almost whimpers in fear as he looks around him. He’s in the middle of a circle of fire, the floor is sinking underneath him, and the walls are collapsing in on themselves. There’s smoke everywhere.  
Peter raises his hand shakily and stretches out his arm. He wills his two fingers to bend to touch his palm and Peter almost yells in effort before he finally can make them move. The sound of his web shooting out has never sounded so good and Peter flings himself forward as the hallway caves in behind him, the floor falling into nothingness. Peter has nothing to web to as he goes flying and he’s not in the shape to land on his feet. He flails in the air, waiting to crash into the floor again. 3 spider legs are functioning and they spread out, trying to stop his fall. They make him bounce twice, but they’re weak and cracked and just get crushed against the floor, snapping off. Peter goes tumbling again, and sprawls out on the floor, gasping and crying, rolling onto his back and coughing, gripping his side, “I can’t...Karen I can’t…” Peter sobs.  
“Peter get up. You’re almost there. Peter come on,” Karen urges.  
Peter coughs, tears forming in his eyes, “I can’t… I can’t…”  
“You have to. Peter come on,” Karen cries in his speakers. Peter gasps for breath, his lungs burn.  
He’s drowning.  
He feels like he’s drowning.  
He needs something to grasp.  
Something to hold on to.  
Something to pull him back from the riptide of pain and dizziness that’s crashing into him.  
Wave after wave.  
He’s slowly drowning.  
“My suit,” Peter whimpers, “Karen I can’t…”  
There’s no answer from his A.I. Instead, someone else’s voice meets his ears.  
“If you’re nothing without this suit, then you shouldn’t have it.”  
Peter bites back tears and gasps for breath. Tony. He wouldn’t fail him. He wouldn’t die here.  
“Come on Peter,” he urges himself, slowly getting onto his hands and knees, “Come on Peter, come on Spiderman…” Peter pushes himself up with a loud yell of pain, clasping his side, and using the wall for support, “Come on Spiderman-”  
Peter grits his teeth, yelling in pain, and forces himself upright. Peter gasps, which makes him cough, but he staggers forward, his breathing still raspy. He’s not giving up. He’s not dying here.  
“Karen,” Peter coughs, his voice deep and scratchy, “Which way?”

Rocket watched as ‘Iron Man’ powered up his suit and took off toward the building.  
“Tony wait,” Shield guy yelled. Man, he was patriotic. His whole outfit was red and white and blue. That guy- Tony, didn’t wait. He took off with his hands extended, stabilizers on each palm. A weird way to fly, but hey, he’d let the guy do his thing.  
“Looks like freaking Peter Pan,” Rocket grumbles before mumbling, “He can fly, he can fly, he can fly.”  
“Who's Peter Pan?” Captain America asks miserably. (What a cheesy name by the way.)  
“Dude have you been living under a rock for 70 years?” Rocket scoffs. He didn’t mention the only reason he knew who Peter Pan was was because of Quill.  
“Ice,” The man says, “I’ve been living in ice for 70 years.”  
Rocket doesn’t even want to know.  
Luckily, Groot tugs at his arm, diverting his attention, “I am Groot?” *Where’s Spiderman?*  
Rocket’s face falls.  
“I don’t know Groot. I don’t know,” he sighed sadly. Rocket had to hand it to the kid. He never liked the plan the kid had thrown at him as he rushed over, spitting out a jumble of words that Rocket barely processed. The kid was so intent on going through with it, and he was also very, very smart. His plan worked because they were all still alive, but Rocket was afraid it had come with a cost. Rocket felt slightly responsible. He had to grudgingly admit that he had liked that kid. And he had just given him the death sentence. Add that to the list.  
“He’s not coming back without Peter, Cap,” The man with the pistol, Rod? Rhode? Rhodes!, said.  
“I know, I know,” Cap musses.  
“Alright, ship’s here,” Quill announces, his tongue out of his mouth as he shakily brings the Milano down from the sky in great concentration.  
Rocket grabs the controls from him and lands the ship with ease. Quill glares at him. Rocket winks.  
Quill punches his arm angrily and hisses, “You could have told me that you could fly it on the new stick setting, instead of making me look like an idiot.”  
“Yeah, but it’s not as fun that way,” Rocket says, “Everyone aboard, we’ll hover.”  
Rocket opened the back door of the ship and everyone piled in, his friend’s taking their usual seats and everyone crowding the cockpit. Rocket locked the ship into his control and raised them off the ground a bit.  
Quill switched it back to his control, “No, it’s my turn.”  
“Stop Quill, let me do my job,” Rocket says, pushing his lever backward again.  
“Your job? I’m the Captain! This is my ship!” Quill said, clicking his control forward.  
“Yeah so what? I’m the better pilot!” Rocket says, keeping an eye out for anyone exiting the building. He sees a lot of other Avengers doing the same.  
“No you’re not the better pilot! Give me back my ship-” Quill locks his controls back in place.  
“You’re gonna get another one of Drax’s turds in your pillow tonight Quill,” Rocket grumbles.  
“Again with the turds!” Quill spits.  
“Enough with the turds!” Gamora yells.  
“Yeah!” Mantis says, not really sure what she’s saying.  
“My turds are famous!” Drax says angrily, “They should be well known!”  
“I AM GROOT!” The tree yells from behind them. Everyone shut up!  
Everyone turns and looks at Groot, who is pressed up against the glass, looking at the building.  
“I am Groot?’ He says sadly, looking at Rocket. Rocket sees a tiny tear in the tree’s eye.  
Rocket frowns, sighing, “I don’t know Groot. I’m sure he’s ok.”  
“Why does he keep saying his name?” The guy dressed like an ant asked. Another idiot. Ant-Man. Really creative name.  
“That’s all he can say,” Rocket explains.  
“I am Groot,” Groot scoffs at him.  
“Easy,” Rocket chides the tiny tree before he finishes with, “It’s a dialect.”  
“Oh,” the man says.  
Rocket looks him over, “So can you like, control ants or something?” He snorts.  
“Yes,” the man replies.  
“Oh,” Rocket says, a little shocked and off-guard. He wasn’t expecting that, “Oh, ok-”  
“Can you repair our comms, or hack into Stark’s suit, or possibly Peter’s,” the guy with the freaking Mind Stone in his head asks. Rocket moves away from him a little bit and the man notices, knitting his eyebrows and Rocket is quick to explain.  
“Last time I was that close to an Infinity Stone it was burning me with purple energy? And the second to last time I was next to it, it blew us all up. So I’m a little paranoid that you have on in your forehead,” Rocket spread his hands in surrender.  
“I understand,” the man said, “I’m sorry.”  
“Hey, nothing to be sorry about. Just feel bad for your girlfriend. Do you have one? Do you like accidentally blow her up or something? Can you do that?” Rocket asks him.  
The android looks confused and he looks at the woman with red hair- actually both of the women have red hair, so the one who shoots red stuff out of her hands. They exchange a look and Rocket finally gets that they’re probably a couple.  
“Nice,” he grins, winking at Vision. The woman glares at him.  
“Crap, I’m using my wrong eye again-” Rocket says.  
Quill interrupts him with a curse.  
“Oh Cap, Quill said a no-no word,” the other red head says, smirking slightly.  
“Watch your language,” Captain America tells Quill. It evokes a laugh from the Avengers, Rocket rolls his eyes at Mr. Perfect, the rest of the Guardians are confused, and Quill stops mid-sentence, unsure of what just happened.  
“How can one...watch language?” Drax asks, rubbing his chin, “It’s impossible.”  
Everyone stares at him.  
“It’s true!” he protests.  
Gamora rubs her temples and muttered, “Biggest idiots in the galaxy.”  
Quill keeps everyone back on track, “Tony’s suit is down, and Peter’s is...offline. I- I don’t know what that means. I can’t contact either of them.”  
“So what do we do?” Vision asks.  
“We wait,” Rocket says sadly.  
“I don’t like to wait,” The bird guy says, pacing the ship.  
“Yeah, well bear with us. Patience,” Rocket says.  
“It’s a virtue,” Captain America says.  
“Shut up Cap,” Falcon guy says.  
Rocket eyes the man at the back of the ship who hasn’t been saying anything since Rocket indirectly met him. He wasn’t really looking at the man, but his metal arm. Rocket smirks and he hits Quill on the shoulder, “Dude, I need that guy’s metal arm.”  
“No you don’t. Shut up,” Quill scoffs, shoving him off.  
Rocket has to snicker, but the minute he looks back to the console, his grin falls, and silence returns to the ship as everyone just waits...

Peter continues stumbling down the hallway, Karen shouting encouragement to him, but Peter’s fading fast. He’s fading really fast. He’s fading too fast. The pain is getting to him, his body throbbing and his legs giving out. He’s falling more often and it’s getting harder and harder for him to get up. He can barely breath and his head is spinning. His chest feels like it’s collapsing in on itself. Peter bites his lip so hard he tastes blood, to stop himself from screaming. Every step fills him with pain. His ears are ringing and his vision is tunneling and going blurry every so often.  
He’s drowning.  
He’s drowning and there’s nothing he can hold onto.  
There’s no tie to something that can help him get out of the riptide of pain that crashes into him with every breath he takes. Pain caused by just existing.  
All he can hear is a ringing in his ears- an off pitch tone that hurts his head. Even the overwhelming crackle of the fire surrounding him is drowned out, and soon enough, everything is. Everything, that is, except one voice, that’s screaming his name.  
Peter doesn’t have the strength to raise his head anymore and his knees finally buckle. He can’t stop himself as he falls face down in the floor, but still hears his name being yelled.  
Peter tries to yell back, he tries so hard, but his arms don’t raise him like they had in the past, no new energy comes surging through him; Peter can’t even see, let alone get to his feet. He lays, a beaten hero, with smoke choking his lungs and pain making his body tense and writhe. His fingers twitch, and Peter lets out a croak, lifting a shaking arm and bringing his hand to his suit, pushing a button on his chest. The minute he feels it click, Peter lets out an exhausted sigh, before he falls limp. His bloody cheek hits the floor and Peter closes his heavy eyelids against his will. His head hurts so much, his chest flaring in pain. There are flames licking the bottom half of his suit (the parts that are still intact). Peter’s already drifting unconscious, sprawled in the flames, fire, and smoke. Drowning.

Tony flies through the burning building.  
“FRIDAY, where is he?” Tony shouts, his display up and functioning.  
“I can’t run a heat scan,” FRIDAY says, “there’s too many flames. I tried tracking his suit and there’s jumbled readings, and this time, it’s not me.”  
Tony blasts through a wall and runs forward, “Peter!”  
The wall next to him crumbles into nothingness, falling into flames. Tony scans around him before moving on to the next hallway, “Peter! Kid, where are you? Peter!”  
No answer. Just the crackling fire, the swirling smoke and debris, and the collapsing building. Luckily Tony had a filter on his suit, but Peter didn’t have one, and the smoke was getting really thick. Tony’s throat hurt from screaming his kid’s name. He turns when he hits a dead end, ready to search the whole building if he has to. Then he thinks he sees something coming towards him. It’s a tiny little drone spider. Tony watches, breaking into a run toward it as it dips in the air, trying to stay in flight. He runs faster, his repulsors giving him a boost as he flies through the fire to reach it. It was Peter’s spider: the drone the kid had loved so much on his old suit. It almost smacked into Tony’s chest. It was dying slowly, losing power, but when it focused on him, it turned around and started flying back down the hallway. Tony almost tripped over his own feet in effort to follow it. It takes him down a hallway, then down another, past a crumbled wall and through another hallway and finally stops, dipping in the air, shaking, before it pitches to the floor, shattering into tiny metal pieces that get melted by the flames. Tony is about to scream in anger, but then he realizes the drone had done its job. Peter was crumpled on his stomach few feet in front of him, lying motionless in the flames.  
“Peter!” Tony lunges forward and grabs him, swatting away the flames that have been swirling around his kid. Tony drags Peter away from the flames and into a mostly open section of the floor. Tony takes his mask off in habit and immediately buckles over coughing. The smoke is so thick; it already coats his throat after one breath. Has Peter been breathing this in the whole time? He turns Peter over onto his back and yells in anger, “No! Pete…”  
Their indestructible suit is ripped to pieces. Peter’s face that’s half revealed because of the chipped suit, and it’s covered in blood. The kid’s eyes are shut. His hair and whole body is covered with smoke and soot. His chest reveals the old suit beneath the iron one. That one too is stained with blood. The metal armor is gone from most of his body. Tony sees a spider leg a little ways down the hallway, getting slowly melted by the fire and he looks back at his kid, holding his broken body. He doesn’t even want to ask FRIDAY for the report.  
“Peter talk to me. I’m getting you out of here ok? Just hang on kid,” Tony says, cupping Peter’s face. “FRIDAY, is he still breathing?”  
“Barely sir. There’s a wound in his side-”  
Tony’s already looking and when he does, his heart stops. Peter had webbed up the wound and it’s still bleeding through. Tony’s hands are trembling within his suit and he coughs again from the smoke, his eyes stinging and his lungs burning. He can feel Peter’s chest moving slightly up and down. It’s barely moving, but it’s still moving. That’s all Tony cares about.  
“Sir you need to get out now. The building’s coming down,” FRIDAY says nervously.“Severe structural damage.”  
“Peter, talk to me!” Tony yells, cupping his kid’s face again.  
“He needs to wake up now Tony. If he doesn’t breathe properly…”  
Tony doesn't let her finish. He’s already shaking Peter, holding the kid tight, “I need you to wake up ok? Listen to me kid, I need you to come back to me Pete. Wake up Peter, wake up. You’re gonna be ok. I just need you to wake up…Please Peter, don't leave me, please...”

Peter’s drowning. Another wave of pain hits him, carrying him deeper. He can feel his heartbeat slowing, his lungs giving up, coated with smoke. Peter can’t move, he can’t open his eyes, or even lift his head from where it’s facedown on the floor. He’s fighting for something to grasp onto.  
A voice finally comes. Peter feels strong arms cradle him, and he can tell he’s being dragged away from those awful flames. The voice that calls to him is underwater, or maybe it is on the surface, and Peter’s the one underwater.  
“Wake up kid, please Peter. Peter! Please wake up. Come on kid-”  
Peter feels tears in his eyes and he wills his heart to beat. He wills his lungs to take in oxygen. Someone reaches through the waves and pulls Peter to the surface.  
He gasps for breath as the water finally recedes.

Tony holds his kid, pleading, when finally, Peter gives a violent cough. He coughs again, retching before his breathing speeds up in an attempt to get air into his smoke filled lungs.  
“Tony…” Peter gasps, his voice raspy and weak.  
“Yeah it’s me kid,” Tony says, breathing a sigh of relief. “I’m getting you out of here ok?”  
“I...can’t...breathe…” Peter cries, gasping, his eye that’s not covered with the suit is wide and panicked. He looks so scared. Peter grips Tony and he sees a burn on the kid’s arm. His son’s in shock and Tony hates seeing him like this.  
“I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe,” Peter gasps out, coughing and just trying to take in more air.  
“Hey calm down Peter, steady breaths, easy, calm down, you’re ok, I’ve got you. I’ve got you, ok? It’s ok Pete. I’m here,”  
“It hurts Tony,” Peter says through gritted teeth before he looks up with his bright eyes, “Is everyone ok? Tony, is everyone ok?”  
“I know it hurts kid, but everyone’s fine Peter. Come on, stand with me, I’ve got you,” Tony urges, letting Peter lean against him as he supports most of his kid’s weight.  
“Dad it hurts, it hurts,” Peter scrunches up his face, coughing as he staggers against Tony, “Is Cap ok? Is Quill ok? Is everyone ok?”  
“Everyone’s ok. You’re in shock, I need you to focus on me Peter. We’re going to be fine.”  
“Ok,” Peter says before coughing again, gripping Tony as they stumble out. “I was drowning,” Peter says in a broken voice, “It blew up and and it hurt so much Tony, and then there was fire and- and-”  
Tony’s heart breaks as his kid sobs, even though he can barely breath.  
“Peter, breathe. Breathe kid,” Tony says, holding his son even closer.  
“Dad-” Peter coughs, he freezes in his tracks, looking at Tony with a look of terror in his eyes. He coughs again, before his legs giving out under him and bringing both of them to the floor.  
Peter’s gasping, “I can’t...I can’t...breathe…” Peter coughs again, flat on his back, panicking and grasping for Tony, holding his arms tight. His eyes are wide and tears falling down his bloodstained and smoke covered face. His gasp is scratchy and raspy and Peter chokes, coughing again, jerking to the side and grasping his chest as Tony holds him, unsure of what to do. Peter’s grip gets tighter and he coughs even more violently, not able to take in air.  
“FRIDAY eject suit!” Tony yells, “Put it on him!”  
“But sir-”  
Tony doesn’t have time for this. “Do it now FRIDAY!”  
His suit ejects itself, peeling away from Tony and wraps around Peter, the armor climbing up his arms and chest and closing around his legs. Tony shuts the helmet and manually puts the sound from the inside to outside speakers.  
He grips the metal suit that has his son inside, “Peter you ok?”  
There’s silence, then scratchy breathing.  
He gets a small cough in response and a tiny gasp of, “Yeah,”  
“Ok,” Tony breathes a sigh of relief, “Let’s get out of here. FRIDAY, help him up,”  
The suit raises itself and Peter grabs Tony for support. He can hear his kids strangled sobs, tackled by raspy breathing. Tony holds onto Peter and grabs his other hand, making Peter raise his palm.  
“Blast it,” he says to FRIDAY. A shot bursts from the repulsor and they break through another wall.  
“That was cool,” Peter whispers, his own voice shaky and weak. “I’ve always wanted to do that.”  
Tony can’t help but smile, even though he’s staggering under the weight of both the suit and Peter. He can see the outside, which is a little hopeful, but it’s so far away. There’s fire everywhere and Tony’s coughing, already covered in smoke and dust. He doesn’t know how Peter survived for this long but he’s sure glad he did. His kid stumbles, the suit righting itself with the help of Tony but Peter whimpers in pain, grasping at Tony’s arms.  
“You’re gonna be ok kid,” Tony assures him. “Just hang on, ok? Hang in there. Peter, listen to me. I’m getting you out of here, ok?”  
There’s just coughing from inside the suit as a responce.  
“Boss, his lungs are closing up, your filter system is failing. We’re losing him,” FRIDAY warns.  
They have to have oxygen on the ship, or something- anything that could help his kid. Could they make it to the nearest hospital? Tony didn’t know, but he could feel the weight of the suit getting heavier against him and he coughs slightly again (quietly so not to freak Peter out) before grabbing the suit.  
Tony looks right in the Iron Man eyes, “Stay with me Peter. Don’t you dare black out on me. You hear me? Stay with me.”  
“Uh huh,” Peter mumbles quietly, coughing violently within the suit.  
They’re halfway out when Tony hears a cracking sound. He looks up and sees the ceiling, on fire, crumbling. A big section is about to fall. Peter looks up weakly and sees it to. Tony and Peter pick up their pace, staggering forward.  
“Go now!” he yells at Peter, realizing they aren’t going to make it before it falls.  
“No!” Peter lets out a strangled shout and then the building shakes and the ground seems to cave in a bit. Tony and Peter both fall to the ground. Tony has no suit to shield him so he rolls. The minute he’s regained his bearings he looks around for Peter. Tony doesn’t see him. It gives him hope that FRIDAY probably manually fired up the thrusters, getting him farther away. Tony avoids some falling rocks, turning onto his back, and pushing himself up on his elbows. He holds his aching chest and coughs, before looking at the ceiling.  
That’s just great.  
It’s falling.  
Tony sucks in a breath, his limbs going weak as he tenses, his arm going up to cover his head even though he knows it won’t do any good.  
Then the Iron Man suit flies over from out of nowhere, clumsily sliding to a stop on one knee and crouching over him, putting a hand up to cover Tony’s head. The rocks smash into the red and yellow suit that’s shielding him and litter the ground around them. Tony looks up in shock, moving his hand away from his head.  
“Pete-” Tony coughs from the dust.  
The helmet flips open, revealing Peter’s bright eyes. They stand out against his blackened and bleeding face.  
“That’s my boy,” Tony says proudly.  
“I’ve got you,” Peter says breathlessly as rocks from the ceiling slide off his back. The dust flies up and Peter smiles weakly, coughing, before almost collapsing onto Tony who grabs the metal shoulders to steady him.  
“I got you first,” Tony says plainly, hauling Peter upright.  
“Someone’s cocky,” Peter manages a weak smile, sagging in Tony’s arms.  
“It’s the whole package kid,” Tony winks at him before shutting the helmet over his kid’s face despite his protests. The air in there was better than the air out here.  
“Come on Pete. Almost there,” Tony urges.  
Peter’s coughing inside the suit and his feet are stumbling. Tony isn’t even sure if he’s walking, or if the suit is manually doing it for him. Tony supports his son, practically dragging him now.  
“I can’t Tony…” Peter coughs again, and this time he doesn’t stop coughing. In between the violent noises he gasps out, “I...I..Dad!”  
There’s something different in his voice. Before, his tone had been exhaustion, and Tony could work with that. There was fear in his son’s voice right now, and Tony knew he was losing him.  
“Don’t give up on me now Pete. Come on Peter, we’re almost there. Come on Pete.”  
“I can’t-” Peter sobs before coughing again, “I’m sorry-”  
“No. Don’t be sorry, we’re gonna get out of here,” Tony assures him, but his voice is laced with false hope.  
“Tony- go- please,” Peter sobs, still coughing.  
Tony shakes his head, “I’m not leaving you here kid. Come on Pete, stay with me. I know it hurts. Come on Pete,” Tony begs, pulling Peter forward.  
The building is crumbling behind them, the big open door cracking on the edges, threatening to cut off their escape. Tony has an awful feeling in his chest.  
“Come on kid, we’ll make it. Peter, listen to me, you’re gonna be ok,” Tony’s voice breaks, and he coughs again, putting his free arm up to his nose so he can filter out some of the smoke.  
“Tony you...need...the suit…” Peter says softly.  
“No kid. Don’t you dare take that thing off,” Tony says.  
“But-” Peter rasps.  
“You heard me,” Tony says firmly.  
Peter doesn’t have energy to fight him. The Iron Man helmet is nodding off, slowly sinking towards his chest and Tony’s heart speeds up.  
“Peter, stay with me,” Tony says. They were so close. So close. And then the ceiling in front of them starts to fall.

Peter was losing consciousness. He could barely hear Tony telling him to stay awake. Peter bit his lip, tears stinging his eyes and he struggling to breath. Everything hurt so much, and Peter’s legs are giving out- in so much pain they feel like they’re on fire. But he knows if he falls, Tony falls, and if he dies, Tony dies. Peter wouldn’t let that happen. So, he continues to stumble forward, the suit and Tony supporting him as they make their way to the door. They’re about 30 feet away when the ceiling starts to fall.  
Peter doesn’t think, he just grabs Tony and yells as loud as he can so his voice comes out louder than a whisper from his smoke coated throat.  
“FRIDAY eject suit and fire thrusters!”  
Peter almost blacks out but he feels them both get shot forward, the suit transferring from Peter’s broken body to Tony in midair. Peter feels himself falling but Tony acts fast, grabbing Peter as he drops and yelling, “Give me some juice FRIDAY!”  
The boots fire up and they fly even faster, spiraling out of the building that collapses behind him. They reach fresh air and Peter takes a breath, his lungs tight and he coughs against Tony’s chest. Tony’s holding him tight, but they can’t compete with the shockwave that hits them. Peter saw it coming from over Tony’s shoulder and he barely has time to scream a warning. Tony looks behind them as it hits and both of them pitch forward, falling to the ground. Tony lets out a yell as his suit opens up and encloses around both of them as they crash to the ground. The force shatters the armored encasement that surrounded them, sending both of them flying in separate directions, but the fall is now nowhere near as bad as what might have happened if they hit the ground full force. The Iron Man suit engages all thrusters, keeping the suit off the ground until it’s close enough to the ground that it won’t get severely damaged. It skitters to a stop a long way away from Peter, who doesn’t have much suit to stop his fall. Peter feels the familiar pain of being smashed into the ground and he squeezes his eyes shut, waiting for the pain to subside. He finally rolls to a stop on the pavement and shakily turns on his back, just laying there, gasping for air and clutching his side.  
“Tony!” he yells, when he can breath sort of properly, sobbing in pain. His chest hurts so much, and his side- his side hurts worse. There’s no answer. Peter can’t raise himself to look and he yells again, desperate and fearful. “Tony!”  
A banged up Iron Man suit flies over and Tony drops to his side, diving to his knees, the helmet retreating to his neck to reveal Tony’s concerned face. “I’m here kid,” he assures Peter, “You ok?”  
“Yeah,” Peter says softly, coughing again and gritting his teeth from the pain. Tony raises his eyebrow and Peter changes his answer to the truth: “No.”  
“I told you not to take off the suit,” Tony says angrily.  
Peter looks up at him weakly, “Since when do I follow the rules?”  
The Milano touches down behind them and their team comes running out. Throughout all of the questions, shouts, voices and the noises, Tony doesn’t leave Peter’s side.  
Not once.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stay tuned for next chapter! Comment your thoughts!


	14. Deja vu

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Getting home isn't as easy as you would think...a lot of things can go wrong, but Peter will always be there for Tony <3  
> Also Tony and Cap have deja vu from 2012 Avengers :) Steve just has bad luck with levers i guess...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so glad you all are loving this story! Thank you all so so much for all the comments! They make my day.  
> Enjoy the chapter <3

Quill is the first to see Iron Man spiral through the collapsing building, holding someone in his arms. It’s Peter. It’s the kid. Quill hopes he’s alright.   
“There!” Quill yells, turning the ship around as people crowd against the windows. Then he sees the shockwave of dust and smoke come, and it even shakes the ship a little bit despite his efforts to raise it. The building caves, but it’s better than exploding.  
“Woah-” Quill puts out a hand and catches Groot who had been standing on the windowsill but fell backward from the slight jolt. He sets the tree down in his seat and leans to see out the window. Tony and Peter had gone flying in opposite directions. The Iron Man suit did a good job of keeping Tony from getting hurt, just making him skidder along the pavement. Quill watches as Tony gets to his feet, and Quill looks for Peter since Tony seems ok. When he finds him, his heart stops. Peter hasn’t even hit the ground yet, because of his light form, and Quill bites his lip hard when he does. He winces as the kid’s body hits the ground, tumbling and smashing against the concrete. Quill’s already lowering the ship subconsciously, his heart skipping a beat in pure fear. Peter’s small frame lay crumpled when the kid finally rolls to a stop, flat on his back. Peter is so limp against the pavement, and he doesn’t get up. Quill sets the ship down and opens the back hatch, flicking up the two levers above him and taking off his seatbelt. He gives Rocket control of the ship and runs down the ramp, following the other Avengers. Quill sprints along the concrete, heading for Tony who is knelt at his kid’s side. Quill skids to a stop with everyone else, feeling a cold fist punching his heart with every cry Peter lets out of his clenched teeth. The kid is trying so hard not to scream and not to show the pain, but he just can’t help it. Tony’s holding his hand, forcing him to stay down and speaking to his son in a firm but calming voice.   
Peter looks awful. His suitt is blackened, burned, chipped...and half gone. Quill sees bare skin at some parts where his old suit’s layer that was underneath is gone as well. The kid’s face is coated in black smoke and there’s a huge cut on his cheek. His nose is bleeding and his hair is stiff with soot and dust. His tears make lines down his dirty cheeks. Worst of all is his breathing, his chapped lips parted slightly, trying to gulp down air with lungs that are probably coated in smoke.  
“It hurts Tony,” the kid says through his cries in an awful and raspy voice. His whisper is followed by a fit of coughing. Quill looks down and sees Peter’s hands trembling as they try and cover up the wound that Tony is trying to examine.   
“I know, I know-” Tony mumbles, his face scrunched in worry, fear, and pain.   
“I have first aid stuff on my ship,” Quill says, licking his lips and finally finding his voice, “And an oxygen mask- we need to get him on board.”  
“I can stand,” Peter says weakly.  
“No you can’t.” Tony is already grabbing Peter in his arms and picking him up gently: one hand under the kid’s legs and one around his back, holding him against his chest. The team parts to either side, and Gamora and Mantis are already running to get the first aid supplies.   
Tony carries Peter into the ship and as they pass Quill, Peter catches his eye and mumbles, “Hey Peter.”  
Quill grins to try and cheer up the kid, “Hey Peter.”  
Drax has pulled up a cot for them to lay Peter on and Tony commands Karen to peel back the first layer of the kid’s suit, so he can get a better look at the wound. His suit dissolves and Tony mumbles,  
“Nanoparticles,” as if that will explain it. Quill doesn’t really are at the moment, he just hopes Peter’s ok. Wanda is already at the kid’s side, her fingers stretched out, trying to heal the gaping hole in his side.   
“Tony are you hurt?” Captain America asks, grabbing Tony by his metal shoulders to get his attention.  
“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Tony says, waving him off and going over to Peter’s side.   
Quill and Cap exchange a look. Tony isn’t fine. He’s got a bloody nose, a black eye and a cut on his head, along with other scrapes and bruises Quill knows he has but are concealed by the suit. He’s probably got smoke in his lungs too, but he obviously doesn’t care about that right now.   
“You’re gonna be ok Pete,” Quill hears Tony whisper. The kid nods, his jaw tensed. Quill notices silent tears running down the kid’s cheeks, his one hand clenched into a fist, his other hand gripping Tony’s.  
“Mantis,” Quill says, catching his friend’s arm as she walks by, “can you calm him down? The kid’s freaking out.”  
“I can try,” Mantis nods, wringing her hands and walks over to Peter. She reaches a hand out-  
Ton’s head snaps up, protective, and stops her from making contact with Peter, “Woah, woah.”  
Quill clasps him on the back, “It’s ok Stark. She controls empathy.”  
“Tony it’s ok...it’s...ok,” Peter says quietly, his voice scratchy.  
Mantis nods, reaching out hesitantly and she puts her hand on Peter’s arm that isn’t burned, closing her eyes. Her antennas glow and her grip tightens a little. Peter’s rapid breathing becomes a little steadier and his body relaxes. He takes a deep scratchy breath, but it’s deeper than his usual quick and panicked ones.  
Tony watches in awe before Mantis opens her eyes and smiles softly at Peter who is looking slightly better despite his wounds and appearance. Her antennae stop glowing.  
“Thank you,” Tony says quietly to Mantis who smiles in return. Quill nods at Mantis, also giving her a smile and she takes her hand off Peter’s arm and walks away to go help Drax with moving stuff into their storage compartment. It was a little cramped with all the Avengers on board. Peter’s still gripping Tony’s hand really hard and Quill admires Stark for not saying anything about his fingers that are turning slightly purple. The two have an unmistakable bond, yet somehow, they aren’t father and son? Right? Or were they? Quill doesn’t remember anymore. They definitely act like it.   
Wanda’s red energy stops and she steps back from the cot, pursing her lips, “I can’t do anything about the smoke, but I think I’ve stopped the bleeding.”  
“Thanks Wanda,” Tony smiles at her. She nods and goes over to where Vision and the Falcon are in the corner. Quill backs up slowly to leave Tony and Peter alone but he stops when he hears the kid mumble, “Are you ok?”  
Tony nods, holding Peter’s hand in between both of his, “I’m fine Pete, don’t worry about me,”  
“Are you sure?” Peter asks quietly.  
“I’m sure. I’m not ok with you webbing me to the ground though,” Tony says, ruffling Peter’s hair ever so gently so that it’s a nice soothing gesture but it doesn’t hurt the kid in any way.  
“Sorry,” Peter grins.  
Tony sighs, “Don’t do that again ok?”  
“Okay,” Peter says, his face has pain written all over it, but he manages a smile. Quill then drags himself up the stairs to give them some privacy. He arrives at the cockpit where Rocket is already pushing the buttons to shut the back door and fiddling with the controls for lift off.  
“Hey,” Rocket says. He has a weird tone. He looks over his shoulder, his gaze flicking to the stairs, then back again.  
Quill smiles, “I just wanted to let you know that the kid is fine. He’s banged up, but he’s gonna be ok.”  
“Good,” Rocket says, rubbing his nose discreetly, trying to act like he doesn’t care, “Groot wanted to know.”  
Quill wanted to point out that Groot was downstairs and had been next to Peter, but he decided not to and just nodded.  
“Yeah,” Rocket said.  
Quill sank down into his chair, “So where are we going?”  
“Back to that compound. It shouldn’t take that long with our speed.”  
“Nice,” Quill says, flicking some switches on the control panels and firing up the engines. A couple minutes later, most of the team has come up to the cockpit, including Tony, dragged away from Peter’s side by Cap. Scott stayed downstairs to keep an eye on the kid who had exhausted himself to the point of sleep.   
“We’re heading back to that compound of yours. I hope that’s ok?” Quill says to Tony who nods.  
“How’s the kid?” Gamora asks from her seat.  
“He’s ok. Once we get back to the compound I can help him out, but right now we can’t really do much,” Tony says sadly.   
Just then there’s a lurch from the ship and everyone stumbles forward. Quill pulls up on his lever and looks at the control panel that has tons of blinking lights and warning beeps.  
“What happened?” Cap demands.  
“Rocket, you son of a jerk, did you break my ship?’ Quill growled.  
“You were flying it! Check your compression levels,” Rocket’s hands are flying over the control panel, trying to diagnose the situation.  
Quill checks everything over in disbelief, “They’re fine,”  
Rocket shakes his head, “Well something’s not fine, we’re losing altitude!”  
“At least we will die after a glorious victory!” Drax says.  
“Not helping,” Quill shouts to him. “Rocket pull up!”  
“I am pulling up! You pull up!” the raccoon shouts back, and he is pulling up on his lever hard.  
“Gamora! How’s the engine?” Quill yells.  
“It’s not the problem. It’s something else!” She says, flicking through her screens.  
“Can we do anything?” Falcon asks.  
Quill shakes his head, looking around, confused, “There’s nothing to do, I don’t know what’s broken, all the levels are normal!”  
Tony points and splutters, “I don’t know how you do it in space but on Earth, blinking red buttons mean something’s not normal.”  
“Thank you Sherlock,” Quill yells at Tony.  
“You’re welcome,” Tony snaps back, totally sarcastic.  
“We will die heros,” Drax says, raising his fist.  
“Again, not helping Drax,” Quill shouts.  
“It’s the stabilizers,” Vision suddenly says. His stone is glowing and his eyes are closed, “I detect damage to the core stabilizer, and it’s preventing your altitude increase.”  
“How does he know that- How do you know that?” Rocket says.  
“We don’t have much time,” Vision says, knitting his eyebrows in concentration, “I believe a very powerful surge would realign the stabilizer. But only if you reboot the engine.”  
“Are you crazy? We can’t reboot the engine in the air!” Rocket yelled.  
“Technically…” Quill said slowly.  
“No,” Gamora says, “You’ll get us all killed.”  
“I haven’t even said anything yet!” Quill protests, urging the ship higher.  
“We’re talking about a plan that involves shutting off our engine in mid air. It can’t be good,” Gamora says, shooting him a look.  
“Yeah well neither is becoming a pancake on the ground. I’ll take my chances,” Quill says, flipping some switches.  
“I am Groot?” The tree asks, hopping up and down on his chair.  
“Groot! Strap in! And no, I’m not thinking up a percentage at this very second!” Quill says. Groot looks mildly disappointed at that.  
“Quill this won’t work,” Drax says, “it’s impossible.”  
“Thanks Drax, you’re very encouraging,” Quill grumbles.  
“It is better to die as heroes then to have you blowing us up in the sky!”   
“Seriously Drax, shut up! I’ll get a piece of duct tape if I have to,” Quill threatens.  
“You wouldn’t dare,” Drax growls.  
“You said you didn’t have any tape!” Rocket yells at him.  
“Everyone just be quiet!” Quill yells, looking over his shoulder. “Tony can your suit still fly?”   
“Yeah.” The Iron Man helmet closes over his face and Tony’s voice is now more electronic, and he asks, “What do I do?”  
“I need you to go outside of the jet and uh…” how could Quill put this... “shove something back into its spot when I say. Cap, I need you to go to the lower deck of the ship and pull a lever. I’ll walk you through it. It will stall the engine long enough for Tony to get out after he pushes the stabilizer back in place.”  
“I have a weird feeling of deja vu,” Tony says, blinking. “Quick question, what happens if I’m inside and Cap doesn’t push the lever?”  
“Something not good,” Quill said, “But it most likely ends with you dying.”  
“Great. Don’t screw me over Cap,” Tony mutters. “Again.”  
“I’m on comms,” Cap said, and he and Tony head to the stairs, bickering about something that happened 6 years ago.  
Quill looks at who’s left.   
“Falc, I need you to grab Tony and get him back inside before we blast off without him. I don’t know how long his suit will hold and if something goes wrong, we need someone with wings.”  
Falcon nods, crossing his arms, “Can do Star Prince.”  
“Star Prince?” Quill mutters.  
“Falc?” Sam counters.  
“Fair enough,” Quill says. “Vision, I need you to stay here and tell me what else you can see with that stone in your head. Wanda, can you do your weird magic thing and maybe give us a boost so we have more free fall time?”  
“Free fall time,” Gamora repeats weakly. “This is insane.”  
“All good plans are. Wanda can you do it?” Quill asks.  
She nods, “just tell me when.”  
“Everyone strap in! This is gonna get rough!” Quill shouts. He glances over, “Gamora, how are we looking?”  
“Do you want me to answer?” she asks angrily. “You’re about to send us hurtling to the ground with no thrusters, no engine, and no stabilizers.”  
Quill bites his lip, “Good point. Rocket, ready?”  
“Ready is my middle name,” Rocket says cockily, gripping his controls.  
Quill for some reason stops and thinks about that before he asks, “Wait, what is your middle name?”  
“I’m not telling you.”   
“I bet you don’t have one,” Quill snorts.  
“Hey! Why’d you have to make it personal?” Rocket grumbles.  
Quill shrugs, “Just saying.”  
“Well then what’s your middle name?”   
Quill shakes his head, laughing, “I don’t want to-”  
“Jason,” Gamora calls.  
“How do you know that?” Quill exclaims.  
“I saw it when you gave those men the middle finger back at the jail when we first met.”  
“Oh.” Quill laughs, “Now that was funny.”  
“Peter!” Gamora says.  
Quill nods, “Yeah, yeah,” he touches his hand to his ear, “Cap, you there yet?”  
“Yeah I’m here. Where’s the lever?”  
Quill gives him directions on how to unlock the engine room and which way to turn the knobs etc., all while urging the ship even higher. It starts shaking and he hopes everyone is strapped in like he told them.  
“Ready to jump out on your signal Quill.” (That was Tony.) “Cap, if you don’t kill me, you’re invited to my wedding.”  
“I’ll do my best. Congrats by the way. Give me the cue Quill.”  
Quill sucks in a breath, “Alright, here goes nothing. On my signal, Rocket, shut off all your thruster power. Gamora, shut off the engines. I’ll manually override the backup generators. The ship will go in free fall and everybody hang on. Tony I’ll signal you first, push the stabilizer back into place and we’ll start the minimum engines. Cap, you’ll pull the lever and Tony gets out of there with Sam as his wing man. Then we punch it and all go home. Good? Good.”  
“Easier said than done Quill. Are you sure this will work?” Tony asks.  
“No,” Quill says plainly, “not at all. There are a lot of things that could go wrong,” he admits.  
“Great,” Tony says. “So why am I the one who has to go outside of the plane?”  
“Ok countdown- 10, 9, 8…” Quill starts counting before Tony can change his mind.  
“Quill it will be your fault if we die,” Drax says.  
“Mantis, knock Drax out please. I can’t take it anymore,” Quill says. He needs to concentrate.  
“Sleep,” Mantis sighs, touching Drax’s arm before he can protest.  
“Thank you,” Quill calls as she walks out of the room, before he grips his controls. He takes a deep breath and shouts over his shoulder, “Ok, Wanda, give us that boost. Hang on!”  
Wanda spreads out her hands and red magic goes through the floor of the jet and he feels the ship thrust forward even faster. Quill is pushed back into his seat as his ship is rocketed through the air, shooting through the clouds. Quill waits till it starts to slow and lose it’s forward momentum and then he looks over at Rocket as the tip of the ship starts to dip.  
“Ready? 3, 2, 1…” Quill sucks in a breath, “I hope we don’t die.”  
“That would suck,” Rocket agrees. Everyone pushes their switches at once. The ship stops moving, freezes in air, and then starts to free fall.

Tony readied himself, standing by the side hatch of the jet. Tony felt the ship stop accelerating, and just freeze. Tony sucked in a breath. Then came the rushing sensation in his stomach as he felt the ship drop and Tony grabbed onto the wall to stop himself from pitching forward. Mantis, the girl who had calmed Peter down had just walked in behind him. She waved and pushed a button. A little yellow shimmering wall appeared behind him.  
“What’s that?” Tony calls.  
“It stops the air from going out of the ship,” she said.  
“That’s a good idea,” Tony said, giving her a thumbs up. A few seconds later, Tony tapped into comms, “Quill, ready for your signal!”  
“Yeah hang on, I have to manually override the backup generator it’s trying to turn on ok- got it! Go! Go! Go!”  
Tony fired up his thrusters and flew out the hatch.   
“Woah!” Tony had to straighten himself from the rush of wind and he turned to go to the ship, but it had already dropped below him and Tony was lucky it hadn’t hit him as it pummelted.   
“Show me something FRIDAY!” Tony shouted, doing a flip in the air and spiralling downward, firing up his rear thrusters. He shot through the air, chasing after the ship and finally got below it, bracing for the wing that was about to slam into him. When it did, Tony bounced off, catching a handhold at the last second. He straightened with his booster flaps and made his way underneath the jet. Tony found the massive engine, a large circle, unmoving and frozen in place. He found a gap and pushed his way through it, getting stopped by a little hanging flap which Tony cut it off with his lazer, pulling it out of the hole and dropping it. It whipped away in the wind. He hoped that wasn’t important.  
“Ok Quill, I’m inside,” Tony said, bracing himself against the engine and the inner wall of the jet. He looked around at all of the machinery.  
“Quick question, what does this thing look like?” Tony asks.  
“Uhhhhh, not sure. I’ll check the owner's manual,” Quill says.  
“Not sure? Quill, I’m inside your skip, I don’t have time for owner’s manuals!” Tony yells.  
“What do you mean you threw it away Drax?” Quill yells over comms.   
“Oh God… Do you remember anything about it even in the slightest?” Tony asks weakly.  
“Okay, okay, yeah, it was uh, ok check in between the thrusters and the main engine I think. Pretty sure there are two parts: one on top and one on bottom. You need to align them... I think.”  
“Stop saying ‘I think’,” Tony says, but he finds what Quill’s talking about and hopes he’s right.  
“Ok I see it! Are you sure that’s it?”  
“Great! And no I have no idea if that’s it, but we don’t have time to check. Just push it back into place and we’ll hope for the best.”  
Tony gripped the sides of the top one that was slightly angled and gave it a nudge. It wouldn’t move. He kicked it. Nothing. Tony got a good lock on the sides and pushed it as hard as he could, his suit firing up at his back to support him  
“Alright dear, come on. You’re a tough one,” Tony huffed. Tony put more pressure on it, firing up his hand boosters as well, and it finally was nudged back in place, clicking in it’s holder. Tony breathed a sigh of relief.   
“Quill, I’m ready,” Tony said, turning and walking back to where he came in. Some lights were on now and he realized he had shoved himself through the big blades of the engine. His exit would not be as easy as his entrance, and the dangerous looking way out was not exactly intriguing.  
“Ok, firing up the backup engines now,” Quill says.  
The metal blades Tony’s staring down had started turning, cutting off his way out. Cap would fix that with the lever, he hoped. So basically, Tony was looking into an enclosed space- an engine- with propellers everywhere. Death was pretty much guaranteed.  
“Tony go in,” Quill says.  
“I hate you,” Tony says, but he drops in, flying in sync with one of the blades so he doesn’t get hit, keeping an eye on the bottom that’s supposed to drop out .   
“Tony, the floor will drop out and you’ll descend and then go in the door you flew out of. Ready?”  
“Hm this is nice though, I could stay a while- yes Quill. I’m in a freaking engine, genius, I’m ready to get out,” Tony says urgently.  
He hears Quill snicker and then he hears, “Cap pull the lever.”  
“Yep,” Cap responds.   
Nothing happens.  
“Cap?” Tony asks.  
“I pulled it.”  
“That’s funny because I’m still in the engine! Pull it again!” Tony yells over the comms.  
“It won’t budge Quill. There’s something stuck on the inside. I can see it. But I can’t reach it. It’s a tiny piece of metal-”  
“I don’t care what it is just pull the lever!” Tony says.  
“It won’t move Tony! And I can’t reach it to pull it out!”  
Tony has to accelerate more to keep up with the blade he was following. He was getting dizzy, flying in tight circles. “Scott,” Tony yells suddenly into the comms.  
“Scott! Get Scott!”

Cap stood by the lever, gripping it with both hands.   
Then the signal comes, “Cap pull the lever.”  
“Yep,” Cap says, pushing the lever as hard as he can. It goes forward and then to his dismay, stops. Cap jerks it. Maybe that’s as far as it goes?  
“Cap?” Tony asks.  
“I pulled it,” Cap says, shoving it forward again. Again it stops, in exactly the same place.  
“That’s funny because I’m still in the engine! Pull it again,” Tony yells.  
Cap pulls it again, and again nothing happens. Cap crouches and looks into the tiny slot where the lever protrudes from the wall. He moves the lever forward again and sees something wedged between the wall and the axle.   
“It won’t budge Quill. There’s something stuck on the inside. I can see it. But I can’t reach it. It’s a tiny piece of metal-”  
“I don’t care what it is, just pull the lever,” Tony shouts.  
Cap pushes against the lever again but it does nothing, “It won’t move Tony! And I can’t reach it to pull it out!”  
Then Tony yells over the comms, “Scott! Scott! Get Scott!”  
That’s a good idea. The hole looked big enough for Scott to fit through. Cap runs to the stairs and yells, “Lang! Get over here! I need you to shrink!”  
Ant-Man jumps down the stairs, becoming full sized as he hits the landing, popping his helmet off, “What’s wrong?”  
“There’s something wedged in between the lever and the siding,” Cap says, running back over and pointing, “I need you to go in there and push it out. And then stay clear cause I’ll be yanking the lever hard.”  
“And hurry up!” Tony yells, making Steve wince from the feedback.  
“Let’s go, let’s go,” Cap says. Scott nods and shrinks, jumping onto the lever and sliding down. He goes into the wall and shouts, “I see it! Metal or something?”  
Cap nods, “Yeah, can you push it out?”  
“Cap! Now would be nice,” Tony yells a warning.  
“I think...hold...on,” Scott groans, his small form barely visible in the tiny crack.   
“Lever Cap!” Tony screams again.  
“We need a minute here!” Cap says.  
“Lever!” Tony shouts, “Now!”   
“Got it!” Scott shouts, falling to the floor and becoming full sized with a tiny piece of metal between his two fingers. Cap lunges over him and yanks the lever.

Tony felt his hands leave the front of the blade and he slammed into the one behind that one, slowly sliding down towards the horizontal propellers that were spinning even faster. Deja vu just whooped his butt.  
“Uh oh,” Tony said.   
He was sucked down and bounced against the whirling blades, smacking and rolling against the hard bottom. Tony couldn’t get his bearing, every which way he looked there was something else slamming into him and then making him crash into something else. Tony’s suit scraped and whirred trying to avoid the whirling propellers but they were going to fast. Then the floor beneath him suddenly opened and Tony dives for the hole with whatever concentration and focus he had left. He flips and falls...and drops out into open air.   
With a yell, Tony spreads his hands and his repulsors fire up, stabilizing himself. He takes a breath, shaking his head to clear his dizziness. He flies out from underneath the jet and speeds up to keep up with the still falling ship.   
“Heading back. Never let Rogers pull a lever again, ok?” Tony says breathlessly into the comms.  
“Stark, are you good?”  
“Am I good? Let’s see, I was inside a propellor for about 30 seconds getting smacked around so I think I’m doing perfect.”  
“Just get inside,” Steve says, but Tony knows he’s grinning.  
“Say thank you to Scott,” Tony says. “He was a bigger help then you,” Tony jokes, making his way around the edge of the ship. Steve laughs on the comms.  
“Quill how’s the ship?” Tony asks.  
“Pretty good. I’ll fire up the engines as soon as you’re inside. We’ll be cutting it close.”  
“I’m on my way,” Tony reports.   
He sees Falcon standing at the hatch, ready to jump in if need be. Tony was fine, at least he thought he was fine. His foot had been caught in the propellor and scraped and Tony hadn’t thought much about it until his main thruster sputtered out. Tony dipped in the air, smacking the dying thruster against his other leg, but it did nothing.  
“Oh no,” he said plainly.  
“What’s oh no?” yelled Quill.  
“It’s an expression for when something goes really really wrong,” Tony says, his eyes flicking across his display, trying to figure out what to do.   
“FRIDAY talk to me!” Tony yelled.  
“I’m reverting all power to the backup thrusters and repulsors,” she said.  
Tony accelerated weakly, his suit dying on him.  
“I’m doing all I can sir, there just isn’t enough power…”  
“Sam!” Tony yells.   
Falcon jumps out of the plane and spirals towards him but suddenly the ship jerks, the tip spinning and it catches his metal wing across the top, sending him sprawling. The ship continues to spin before it rights itself, teetering dangerously to one side, then the other as it drops. There’s whistling in Tony’s ears and he searches for Sam.  
“Quill what the heck are you doing?” Tony yells, waiting for Falcon to right his course. He doesn’t and it’s then that Tony sees his broken wing. He surges forward, tackling Sam mid-air, grabbing his suit and trying to stabilize both of them with a dying suit.  
“I’m not doing anything!” Quill’s voice comes back, “Stabilizer is set, but I can’t stop the free fall unless I turn on the engines! I’m flying blind, I can’t do anything about it! Get your butts inside and then I can!”  
“We need a minute!” Tony yells at him, “Sam’s suit is down. I’ve got him.”  
Truth be told, Tony didn’t really have him. There was no way his suit had enough energy to get them both back to the ship and get them inside.   
“Do you have juice left?” Tony yells to Sam.  
“Barely!” Sam said, cursing at his ripped wing.  
“Yeah well give me everything you’ve got,” Tony yells.   
“FRIDAY, revert everything to rear thruster. Everything! Display, repulsors, backup, everything!”  
“On it,” she says.   
“Go Sam!” Tony says. Sam’s jetpack fires up and Tony’s thruster gives them the blast they need to gain momentum, shooting them both forward. They aren’t gonna make it. Tony urges his suit to keep up the boost for a little longer. They’re so close to the ship. Sam’s jetpack sputters and gives out, and he drops slightly yanking Tony with him who tries to make up for the loss. Tony’s thrusters are failing, giving him little jerks in the air.  
“Sam, I’m gonna throw you,” Tony yells.  
“I don’t think that’s a good idea- Tony wait-” Sam says but Tony does it anyway. He fires up his repulsor on his hand, giving him a boost as he throws Sam as hard as he can, the Iron Man gauntlet traveling with him and then circling back to Tony’s waiting palm where it reattaches itself. Tony holds his breath as Sam spreads his wings to try and steer himself to the right…  
Tony exhales as he tucks and rolls, crashing through the open hatch.   
Now it’s just Tony, sputtering in mid air, trying to gain altitude and failing.  
“Come on FRIDAY!” Tony yells.  
“I have nothing left sir,” his A.I. responds sadly. Tony yells in anger, reaching as far up as he can, but it’s not far enough.   
Tony grasps for the ship…  
...and misses.  
His thruster sputters out and Tony drops, falling into open air…

He closes his eyes, muttering, “crap,” when suddenly there’s a cry from above him and Tony feels a hand attempt to grasp his but then slip through his fingers. His eyes shoot open and he tries to look up but he’s still falling, the wind disorienting him and Tony is flying blind; his suit’s stiff and his display’s down. Time goes in slow motion, and Tony’s breathing is rapid. All he knows is that the hand that tried to grab him missed, and he’s falling again.  
“No!”   
Tony knows that voice. Why does he know that voice?  
THWAP.  
Tony feels himself jerk, his fall stopped as his arm flies up, something yanking it back towards the ship. Tony’s helmet recedes to his neck and he looks above him. There’s a web attached to his suit. And Peter’s holding the other end of it.  
Peter’s gripping the web with one hand, digging his feet into the ground, his other hand grasping the edge of the ship. He’s pulling with all of his might, gritting his teeth and letting out a cry of effort. But his hand is slipping- not from the web, but from the siding. Tony knew he would rather let go of the ship then let go of Tony. And Tony wasn’t going to let that happen.  
“Peter!” Tony yells, “Let go, kid!”  
“No!” Peter yells back, his voice hoarse and scratchy, yet so determined.   
Tony sees movement behind his kid and now Sam is grabbing Peter by the waist and steadying him as his kid grabs the web with both hands and pulls, one hand over the other, slowly bringing Tony towards the ship.   
Tony reaches up and grabs the ship’s siding with his metal fingers, locking them in place as Peter grabs his hand and pulls him into the spinning ship. Peter yanks him as hard as he can and Tony tumbles inside. Peter tries and fails to catch him and the two roll, ending up with Peter lying limp on top of Tony’s suit. Tony gently slides him down to the floor, letting him lie on his back and breath deeply. Peter’s bright eyes find his.   
“I’ve got you,” Peter says hoarsely, giving him a weak smile.  
“I got you fir-” Tony starts, smiling back, right before the ship lurches, spinning again. Everything tilts and the whole room slides. Tony grabs Peter, tucking him into his chest and putting out his hand to stop them both from slamming into the wall. Tony is about to get up, then sees motion out of the corner of his eye and shields his son with the suit, letting his back get smacked by the table that fell over and went crashing to the other side of the ship.  
“You ok Pete?” he asks Peter who has his back up against the wall and is breathing hard.  
“Yeah...yeah,” Peter gasps. He doesn’t look ok.  
“Quill we’re inside- Qui-” Tony’s cut off as the ship tilts the other way and Tony is sent tumbling head over heels. He sees Sam hits the opposite wall hard, but he’s safe from the hatch that’s still open and causing the room to become a mini tornado. Tony manually shoves out a knife from his suit and stabs it into the ground, stopping his slide towards the hole. Then he sees Peter tumble past him, crying out, and Tony yells, reaching out and grasping his arm before he can get sucked out of the window. Sam grabs the pipe on the wall and holds on as the ship does another tilt.  
Tony pulls Peter into his chest and braces, digging his knife deep into the floor and making his feet clamp onto the ground as well.  
Tony has his arm wrapped firm around Peter’s back, determined not to let him go. Then suddenly, all the blowing air stops and everything freezes. Tony lifts his head, crouched over Peter as the ship rights itself and Tony feels the engines working underneath them, and the ship slowly stops falling. It’s about time, but they’re finally going up.   
Mantis is there, her finger on the button she had pushed earlier, this time the yellow wall is enclosing the hatch until Sam stands and shuts the actual door. Tony slowly opens his arms, and Peter’s coughing against his chest.  
“I’ve got you,” Tony says, winking at Peter.   
“I got you first,” Peter mumbled, coughing again  
“Yeah, you did kid. Yeah you did,” Tony says, hugging Peter tightly, his hand in his kid’s stiff and messy hair.   
Quill runs down the steps and pumps his fist, “Yes! Yes! Good job Tony. Good team effort everyone. No one died. Hey, what happened here?”  
Tony scoffs, “Nice of you to learn how to fly a ship.”  
“Very funny. Pete, you ok?” Quill asks, and Tony can’t help but admire the concern in his voice.   
Peter nods, sitting up and holding his side as Tony helps him to his feet and over to the steps to sit down. Sam grabbed a bottle of water to give to him and Tony claps his friend on the back after he’s handed the bottle off to Peter.  
“Well that was fun,” Tony said.  
“Tell me about it,” Sam nodded, smiling slightly. “Thanks by the way, and good throw.”  
“I closed my eyes,” Tony said. “Kidding.”  
Sam laughed. Tony looks over his shoulder, “Where’s Cap?”  
Steve walks in, as if on cue, behind Quill.  
“That’s twice now Cap,” Tony shakes his head, holding out his hand.  
“It’s just my luck,” Cap says, clasping his hand and clapping him on the back.   
“Next stop, compound, and then I guess we’ll be on our way,” Quill says, looking slightly sad about that.  
“Why don’t you hang out for a little while?” Tony suggests, “We should still have the South Wing open.”  
Peter’s drinking water, but he gives a small and happy noise of approval and big thumbs up.  
“I’ll check with the team. Thanks Stark,” Quill says, before climbing back up the steps.  
Sam and Cap are talking in the corner, checking out his damaged wing. Scott could be there too, Tony could never tell. He turns back to his kid.  
“I’m gonna sit there so move the hand,” he says to Peter, pointing to the other half of the step. Peter smiles weakly and moves his arm so Tony can sit down.  
“It hurts,” Peter says angrily, wiping his dirty fist against his already soot covered face. His hand is trembling as it grips the water bottle and he closes his eyes, his jaw tensing.  
“I know kid,” Tony says sadly, putting his arm around Peter, “But look at me Pete. You’re gonna be ok, I promise.”   
Peter nods, smiling, and Tony smiles back. Peter leans against his chest and Tony puts an arm around him, clasping his shoulder protectively.  
He means it this time. Before it had been assurance to himself and to Peter, but in that moment, Tony’s mind was cleared a little bit because he knew Peter would be ok. He could fix this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, hope you liked it!   
> Stay tuned for Chapter 15! :)


	15. Unspoken Thing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Return to the compound! Someone finds out Peter's secret, and about time too, because remember in this story, May never uttered the line WHAT THE-  
> It's a chill chapter, sort of like a recovery one, with Guardians of the Galaxy humor (I think there is an unspoken thing...)  
> Oh and also Tony's been thinking he went unconscious and not actually died, at least until FRIDAY figures that out and fills him in. The Guardians are staying for a bit, I think another chapter or two, and then we get into a set of chapters with the most intense stuff yet so stay tuned. Chapter 16 coming tomorrow!

Peter feels the ship descend slowly out of the sky and he weakly raises his glance, looking out of the window. Peter’s vision is blurry and he blinks, seeing blue sky and the compound far below through the glass. Peter notices construction has already started on the bombed compound, and he guesses they have Happy to thank for that. He sits up, testing his strength and immediately falls backward onto his elbows, sucking in a breath and grasping his side, breaking down into a coughing fit that just makes him hurt even more.  
“You good kid?” That’s Sam, who is on the other side of the room, tinkering with his wings with Rhodes.  
Peter nodded weakly, giving him a fake smile to hide the pain, “Yeah.”   
Not really. It hurt a lot. Peter grits his teeth, his hand curling into a fist as he holds back a cry of pain, trying to stop himself from shaking. The minor fractures, concussions and some cuts and bruises had already healed due to his Spider Regeneration, but that couldn’t change the smoke in his lungs, some still broken bones, the wound in his side, his dizziness, the exhaustion, or the pain.  
“Tony’s gonna get you fixed up ok?” Sam said, as if he was reading his mind. “Just hang in there. How’s your breathing?”  
“Weird,” Peter admits, hating how weak and beaten his voice sounds. It’s raw and raspy as he jokes, “but I haven’t choked yet so that’s a good sign,”  
“Yeah,” Sam grins.  
Peter looks out the window again, thankful for a familiar sight and thankful to be going home. As he thinks about it, he realizes how hard it’s getting to breath he more he concentrates. His chest hurts, from both the smoke and his broken ribs. He tries to think about something else and luckily Groot comes in, climbing up onto Peter’s cot and sitting next to him.   
“Hey Groot,” Peter says, wincing at his scratchy voice, “what’ve you got there?”   
He coughs into his battered suit.   
Groot proudly raises his hands, holding one of those old Walkmans in his hand with earphones plugged into it.   
“Is that Quill’s?” Peter asks.  
“I am Groot.” (Peter thinks that’s a yes.)  
“Does he know you took it?” Peter says, raising an eyebrow.  
Groot gives him a look before he scoots closer and pushes a button on the Walkman.   
“I am Groot,” the tree says, holding up one of the ear buds, putting the other one up to his ear with both of his tiny hands. Peter gently took the earphone and put it in his ear.  
“Ooh-oo child, things are gonna get easier. Ooh-oo child, things'll get brighter. Someday, yeah we'll get it together and we'll get it all done. Someday, when your head is much lighter…”  
Peter smiled, and Groot smiled back, kicking his legs along to the music. Peter grins and realizes his pain is going away.   
He hears Tony talking and laughing with Quill and Cap upstairs in his other ear. Sam and Rhodes are in the corner, poking away at Falcon’s suit. He hears Drax’s roar of laughter and Mantis giggling too. Gamora, Wanda, and Natasha are talking in the stairway and every once in a while, Scott will become full sized, scaring the living crap out of someone and then shrinking again. That joke stopped when Clint whacked him across the chest with his bow. Vision is somewhere in there and Peter thinks he’s trying to convince Rocket that his infinity stone won’t blow up the ship. And Peter… Peter is listening to 70’s music with a tree. He never thought he’d say that a year ago. He’s amazed at how weird his life is, but he could get used to this. 

Tony is relieved when the ship touches down and he goes downstairs to check on Peter who is sitting with Groot on his cot, leaning against the wall. The tiny tree is on Peter’s knee and they each have an earphone in; one of those old Walkmans rests on Peter’s leg.  
Peter smiles weakly when he sees Tony and gently moves Groot over, taking the ear bud out. Tony goes over and winks at the tiny tree who is still dancing to whatever song was playing as he helps Peter to his feet.   
He hears his kid make a little sound of pain as Peter puts his arm around Tony’s shoulders so he can help him limp towards the door.   
“You ok?” Tony asks, already knowing the answer.  
“Yeah, fine…” Peter says, gritting his teeth. Tony knows better.  
Quill opens the back door and Peter and Tony walk down the ramp. Happy is already running towards them, and Tony can honestly say he’s never seen the guy so...happy.   
“Tony! Kid!” Happy yells, “You’re...you’re alive. Kid, you look like crap-”  
“Thanks Happy,” Peter grins, “nice to see you too.”  
Tony cuts him off, “Is med bay functional?”  
Happy nods, “The one on the west wing is, why?”  
“You said it yourself. My kid looks like crap. He’s hurt,” Tony says.  
“Yeah, oh wait, Tony-” Happy starts, looking at Peter anxiously.  
Tony shakes his head, starting to stagger with Peter towards the building, the team following loosely behind him, “I don’t have time for it Happy I need to get Pete-”  
Happy follows the group, shouting, “But there’s something you need to know-”  
Tony’s getting angry now, “Happy I-”  
“PETER!”  
That voice was too high and too angry to be Happy. Both he and Peter turn slowly and he feels his kid stiffen. Peter’s gaze had found May sooner than Tony’s had. When he finally does see her he gulps and looks at Peter, who is still in his suit. His Aunt comes rushes across the lot, and Tony isn’t surprised at her expression.  
It’s one thing seeing your nephew that you thought was dead, and it’s another seeing him hurt and covered in soot. But it’s a whole other level of shock when you see him in a Spiderman suit with the Avengers fanned out next to him, some weird people, and a spaceship in the background. This wasn’t going to go well.  
“MAY! May, I’m sorry I didn’t call-” his kid stutters, tearing up. Tony lets Peter stumble forward as May crushes him into a hug. Tony knows he bites back a scream, his eyes are probably going wide from the pressure being put on his broken ribs. Despite his pain Peter hugs her back, tears in his eyes until May pulls him harshly away, holding him at arm's length.  
“Hi May,” Peter says, a couple octaves higher than normal. Tony knows it takes all of his kid’s strength to stay standing and not show the pain. Tony can see it in his eyes and tight smile, but May is oblivious to it, blinded by shock and relief.   
May looks him over, a weird gaze coming over her eyes and then she looks at Tony, at the Avengers, and then back to Peter. She reaches out her hand to touch the scratched and dirty spider at the center of his suit, bits of the old suit that she’d seen any times on TV poking out from underneath. She looks at that, and then looks at Peter again.  
“You wanted me to tell you what was going on and I never could,” Peter says weakly. “Well...this is going on. I should have told you sooner but I just didn’t know how.” Peter runs out of things to say, clearing his throat with difficulty.  
May blinks for a second, before shouting, “What the -”  
Tony cuts in, “May, I’m sure you have a bunch of questions, and I promise I’ll answer all of them, but right now we have some stuff we have to do and I need to get Peter to the med bay-”  
“Med bay?” Her face goes white.   
“As you now know, Peter’s a little too good at keeping things in-” Tony smiles sadly.  
“I’m fine May,” Peter says quickly, shooting Tony a look of annoyance.  
“To heck you’re not fine!” May splutters, grabbing his shoulders and touching his stiff hair, “Look at you!”  
Tony is glad they got Peter cleaned up a bit on the ship and happy that Wanda had healed his wound slightly. All May saw were some cuts, bruises and smoke exposure, and with her level of shock, Tony couldn’t imagine what she would have done if she had seen the full extent of his injuries.   
“I’ll be fine,” Peter promises her, “my regeneration is working. I promise I’ll explain everything,” Peter says weakly, but he’s losing his voice.   
“Regeneration,” May says breathlessly, waiting for an explanation.  
Tony catches a pained expression come over his kid’s face and watches as his knee starts to tremble before Peter locks it again.He had to hurry things up.  
Tony nods, taking over so Peter can take a break from talking, “Happy can fill you in on most of the stuff. Come by tomorrow and we’ll talk about everything ok? I promise. May, I promised you I would keep your nephew safe, and to do that, I need to take him to the med bay.”  
May doesn’t like it, but after 2 or so minutes of bickering, Peter finally convinces her that he’d be ok and May hugs him again, less harsh because she’s worried she might hurt him. Peter keeps a rather real smile on his face the whole time, although Tony knows it’s just fake and only up to hide the pain.   
“You’re...you’re Spiderman?” May asks quietly. “So the Stark Internship, Germany, DC-”  
“Yeah,” Peter says weakly letting out one cough and fighting not to let out another one, “Yeah I’m…I’m Spiderman.”   
Tony can’t help but burst with pride a little bit when he hears the happiness in his kid’s voice.   
“I’m so proud of you Pete,” May says to her nephew, hugging him again before Happy calls out to her. May shakes her head one last time, smiles at Peter and then walks over to meet Happy who begins to give her the basics of what’s been going on behind her back, starting from the very beginning.  
Tony mouths a thank you to Happy and turns to his son who’s standing straight and still smiling. Suddenly, Peter drops his act, stumbling forward into Tony’s arms and crumpling into his chest, coughing. Tony’s a little shocked but he catches him and props him up, murmuring assurance as he starts hurrying to the nearest entrance.  
“Hey stay with me kid,” he says and Cap goes and ducks under Peter’s other arm so they can walk faster. Peter’s feet skid against the ground and he scrunches up his nose, coughing. The rest of the team fans out behind them so if May turns she can’t see how weak and beaten her nephew really was. 

Quill walks through the building in awe. He had only gotten to see a little part of the building when he first met Peter. But now, to see the massive scale of it all was just incredible. He realized the spot where they were standing was where he and Peter met, as hesitant allies. Yet now, a day later, he was back in the same spot, and thought of Peter as a younger brother. The kid was getting worse, coughing as Steve and Tony helped him stagger to the med bay. They set him down on the table and Tony put an oxygen mask on him.   
“Is he gonna be ok?” Quill asks.  
“Yeah, he’ll be fine,” Tony mutters, his eyes darting left and right. He seems distracted.  
“FRIDAY eject suit.”   
The Iron Man suit blinks back to life and peels away from Tony’s body, revealing his jeans and black long sleeve shirt. The suit flies past Quill and down the hallway, knocking into walls from it’s loss of power. Steve backs out of the room and gently herds everyone out into the hallway. Everyone is fidgety and nervous so Cap puts them all to work.   
“Clint, make sure Quill’s ship is documented and clear the landing pad around it. I don’t know if Tony has any deliveries coming in or flight tests. Nat, stay here and let us know what’s going on with Tony. Scott if you need to be somewhere…”  
Scott nods, “Can I go check on Cassie? I haven’t checked in in a couple days,”  
Steve nods, grinning, “Say hi to her for me.”  
Scott grins back and nods, giving him a salute.  
“His daughter,” Steve says when Quill gives him a confused look.“Rhodes if you could try and handle the press that would be great, I’m sure a lot of people saw that space ship come out of the sky.”  
“Will do Cap,” Rhodes says. Wanda comes flying back down the hallway and hands him his leg brace. Rhodes thanks her and clasps it on. Quill didn’t even know he needed one.   
“Sam, Bucky, check to see what systems are working and how the construction is going. Tony said the first thing he wanted to do when he got back was take out the remaining HYDRA outposts, but he’s a little occupied at the moment, so if you could dig some stuff up that could be great.”  
“On it,” Sam says and he and Bucky walk down the opposite hallway.  
“Wanda and Vision, you guys can show Quill and everyone to their guest rooms,” Cap says, “And I, have to make a call. I’m letting General Ross know what happened,” Steve says darkly.  
“Cap he’s probably not at his office,” Wanda says.  
“Oh I’m calling his personal number,” Cap says angrily.“I’ll bust through his door if I have to.”  
Wanda suppresses a smile, then turns to face the Guardians, “I’ll give you a tour.”  
Quill doesn’t want to leave Peter, but he follows Wanda and Vision down the hallway.

Tony grabs another water bottle for Peter who’s propped up in the medical bed.   
“You feeling better kid? The more you drink, the more smoke gets out of your lungs,” Tony says for probably the 15th time.   
Peter nods, gulping down another bottle, “Better.”  
“I’m gonna go check on the team ok? You’ve got Nat outside if you need anything and call FRIDAY to get me. Ok Pete?”  
“Yeah,” Peter nods weakly, giving him a smile.  
Tony purses his lips and winks at his kid and then walks out of the room, closing the door behind him. Nat is there, and she gives him a hug, “You ok?”  
“Yeah. He’ll be fine,” Tony says, glancing back at Peter through the glass.  
“I asked you Tony. Are you ok?”   
“Yeah, I’m fine…” Tony says, brushing her off. “Where’s everyone- I have to fix the suit, and up security and-”  
“Already done,” Nat says. “Steve gave everyone jobs and is going to talk to Ross. Rhodes is handling press. Bucky and Sam are doing security and digging up some stuff on HYDRA with an enlightened perspective. Wanda and Vision are giving Quill and everyone a tour and Clint’s making sure Quill’s ship is ok. You need to sleep. Take a break or something. Let us take care of everything for once.”  
“I can’t sleep, do you know me Romanoff?”  
“Do you ever sleep?” Natasha says, crossing her arms.  
“No,” Tony drawls, “I’m not a human being- of course I sleep. I just can’t...right now.”  
Natasha raises her eyebrows, but shakes her head and sits back down in the chair, “Go. I’ll keep an eye on Peter.”  
“Thanks. You’ll miss me so much, won’t you,” Tony says, making his way down the hallway.  
“Very much,” Natasha rolls her eyes.  
Tony blows her a mocking kiss and then walks down the hallway.  
“FRIDAY, call Pepper Potts,” Tony says. The minute he was able to, he immediately sent another message that called BS. on his first one, (the one that he had sent when he was knocked unconscious and thought he was going to die). Since then, he got a little preoccupied and needed to conserve the suit’s energy, so he couldn’t answer any of her calls, which probably scared her half to death. Plus his suit was down until recently, so his tracking would have been disabled. He hoped she hadn’t died from a heart attack but that was pretty normal since she was in a relationship with him. Luckily, she answers.   
“Tony!”  
“Hey Pepp,” Tony says, “I just wanted to let you know that I’m ok. I’m back at the compound.”  
“Is everything ok? Are you ok?” she asked, despite what he had just said. He couldn’t blame her though.  
“Yeah. Kinda. It will be, listen Pepp, I’m sorry for scaring you like that. It won’t happen again and I’m sorry. I love you so much.”  
“I love you too Tony. I’m just so glad you’re alright. What happened? That message! You said you died and then I got the second one…”  
“Yeah, long story. Just knocked unconscious and a lot of other fun stuff. I guess I have to make another worst case scenario now since I can’t reuse that old one. Did I do ok?” Tony smirked, stepping over a piece of collapsed ceiling.  
“I didn’t like it. You scared me Tony,” Pepper’s voice was close to crying.  
“Think of it as a first draft. I know, I’m sorry. I’ll explain everything I promise,” Tony said sincerely.  
“You better. So is everything ok now?”  
“It’s me. Everything will never be completely ok, but it’s doable. It’s...it’ll work out.”  
“What happened?”   
“Stuff. Things,” Tony said vaguely. “Do you want to come by?”  
“Yeah, I’m on my way. What about Peter, and Cap, and everyone- are they alright?”  
“Yeah, yeah, they’ll be fine. Peter took a hit, but he’ll bounce back,” Tony said, clearing his throat.  
“Ok, well as long as you’re ok…”  
“I’m fine Pepper, I promise,” Tony said.   
“I love you Tony. I’ll be there in 15?”  
“Sounds good. Love you too Pepp,” Tony said. The call ended and Tony walks into his old lab that was littered in dust and debris. Luckily, most of the computers and machines were still intact which was a miracle. His suit was on the ground, face down, sparking and completely wasted.  
“Nice landing FRIDAY,” he smirked, nudging the trashed suit with his foot.  
“Thank you sir.”   
“That was sarcasm,” Tony says, flicking through the screens of the closet computer and rebooting some power in the labs.  
“I detected it,” FRIDAY said back with a hint of amusement in her voice.  
Tony yanked the Iron Man suit into the nearest machine he had built and pushed everything into place, attaching loose wires and manually turning on the power. The arms slowly raised and sparks flew, but the metal clasps locked around the suit and the arms moved around the suit that slowly started getting fixed. Tony typed some things into his computer, looking at stats of the building. He didn’t have to start from scratch which was good. Most of the important things had been stored underground and remained untouched, it was just some of his prototypes that were ruined by the explosions, and the severe structural damage to the two front wings, but that would get fixed.   
“FRIDAY, what happened in my suit that made me go unconscious?” Tony asked. He started checking the past vitals in his history. He flicked the screen and then rebooted it, knitting his eyebrows. That’s odd. It had recorded a heart stoppage. According to the stats, Tony had been dead for 2 minutes, but that wasn’t right. Tony sighed and shook his head. He couldn’t trust any of these readings. FRIDAY had taken a bigger hit than he thought.  
“The suit shut down so oxygen systems failed. It enclosed itself into a air tight container,” FRIDAY reported and that seemed logical to Tony, so he guessed her readings had just glitched. FRIDAY speaks again, “I’ve already composed an alternate to the oxygen system you originally had. If it were to ever happen again, I think loss of oxygen would be avoided.”  
“Awesome thanks, and uh, how about we get a new backup A.I. that can talk,” Tony says, waving his pen in the air before tucking it behind his ear. He noticed a packet of dried blueberries on the floor and he dusted off the bag, opened it, and popped a handful into his mouth.  
“You do like to talk sir,” FRIDAY says. “What shall I name it? Thursday?”  
“Very funny.” He remembered naming JARVIS because he thought up a acronym from Just A Rather Very Intelligent System. It wasn’t even good grammar but it sounded cool. Now JARVIS was Vision so Tony had made FRIDAY. He’s is still debating if he could axcess JARVIS from inside Vision as a prank. If it wasn’t for the Infinity Stone, Tony would have done it.  
“I don’t know yet,” Tony said finally, “When I think of a name I’ll tell you. Just call it Mary Lou for now, don’t ask why, because I don’t know, it just popped into my head.”  
“Alright. Are you sure you don’t want Wednesday?”  
“That’s enough FRIDAY,” Tony smirks. “You’re rather sassy today. I’m really rubbing off on you aren’t I?” Tony grins, before shaking his head as he watched his suit get fixed. Then thought about the oxygen thing again and almost laughed in disbelief, “I can’t believe it closed out air. I was suffocating. Thank God Peter took it off,” Tony breathed a sigh of relief.  
FRIDAY was silent for a bit, then she spoke, her voice clearly conveying confusion.  
“You did suffocate sir,” she said.  
“What?” Tony asked, knitting his eyebrows.  
“Sir, what do you think happened?”  
“What do you mean what do I think-” Tony started to say.  
“Tony, what do you remember?” the A.I. asked again, more firmly.  
Tony sighed, “I remember not being able to breath. I fell to the ground and they were shooting at me and then I don’t remember a section in there so I must have gone unconscious. And then I woke up when Peter opened up my suit” Tony recalled.   
“FRIDAY?” Tony asked the silence.  
“Sir that’s not what happened,” FRIDAY said quietly, “I assumed you knew. If you didn’t it wasn’t the best time to bring it up when I was rebooted so I guess now is a proper time as ever-”  
“FRIDAY what are you talking about?” Tony laughed nervously before he motioned over to the computer with his pen, “Those vitals over there said I was dead for 2 minutes, and that’s not correct so maybe you just-”  
“Those vitals are correct. My health systems never sustained damage Tony.”  
Tony froze, “What?”  
“Your suit closed up and left you breathing carbon dioxide.”  
“But that just makes you pass out, and then Peter got to me, so I was fine. I just went unconscious that’s all, I couldn’t have...died?” Tony almost asked, confused.  
“Yes, carbon dioxide intake can make a person pass out, but if an individual breaths it in for too long, with no oxygen, which is what you were doing, it can eventually limit and finally shut off the oxygen to the brain and kill you. Your heart stopped Tony. Medically, you were pronounced dead for almost two minutes.”  
“But when Peter found me…” Tony didn’t want to say it.  
“You were dead Tony. No pulse, no heartbeat. I contacted him, letting him know I was rebooted and he told me to get you out of the suit, which I did but I was overloading.”  
“Then what happened?” Tony said quickly.  
“Would you like me to run Karen’s footage on the Baby Monitor Protocol?” FRIDAY asked.  
“No, no, I don’t want to...see that, just keep going. What happened?” Tony said, rubbing his face with his hand.  
“I couldn’t get readings and I shut down, so Peter assigned Karen to help me stabilize. She couldn’t find a pulse…” FRIDAY stopped for a second, “Peter was smart though. He thought a large shock could possibly start your heart, so used his taser web as an AED. Your heart needed one extra boost and he punched your chest and it finally started beating again. And then you woke up.”  
Tony blinked, breathing deeply. What had he done to his kid? That explained the tears- that explained a lot; Peter had just been holding Tony dead in his arms. Never had he seen the kid so broken, and now he understood why. What kind of toll does that take on a 15 year old kid when they see the closest thing they have to a father motionless on the floor? Additionally, Tony’s sure Karen told him he couldn’t find a pulse. Oh God.   
Tony’s head was spinning and he could barely wrap his mind around all this. He clutched his chest, self conscious about his heartbeat now. Tony remembered Peter telling him he had got his message on his way to come help, so for a second there, or 2 minutes actually, Peter must have thought it was all his fault. The kid never said anything- of course he wouldn’t have- he must have assumed Tony knew…  
Tony blinked again, before he got up, shoved open the door, and sprinted down the hallway.

Quill loved his room. He had been used to the cramped bunks on his ship that he and the gang had been living in for the past couple months, so to have a room as big as the one he was given was pretty cool. He put the few belongings Clint had brought them- a mix of stuff from his ship and the store, and dropped them on his bed.   
Ain’t No Mountain High Enough was playing from his Zune in his pocket, “Listen baby, ain’t no mountain high, ain’t no valley low, ain’t no river wide enough baby. If you need me call me, no matter where you are, no matter how far, don’t worry baby. Just call my name, I’ll be there in a hurry…”  
Quill sat on his bed closed his eyes listening to his music. His foot tapped along to the music. Quill finally opened his eyes and looked around. It was a pretty simple room, a desk and chair, closet, bed, dresser. He felt weird being back on Earth. He remembered most of the stuff from his 8 years on it, but it had definitely gotten more advanced over the years he had been in space.   
Rocket and Groot shared a room next to them, and they had a bunk bed, even though Groot didn’t really need a bed; he was too small. Gamora was next to him on the opposite side. Drax was across the hall from Quill, and Mantis was in the room next to Drax. Quill hopped up from his bed and reached into his bag, mumbling the words to the song, “Cause baby there ain’t no mountain high enough, ain’t no valley low enough…”  
He fumbled around, checking to see what Clint had got him. There was some extra clothes, some toiletries and then his stuff: music, headphones, his blasters, his coat, suit, jetpacks, and some weird circular thingies that he was pretty sure belonged to Rocket. Quill took out one earphone and went to go return them. He knocked on the door.  
“Who’s there?”  
“Quill,” he said.  
“Quill who?”   
Quill shook his head and opened the door, walking in. He held up the orbs, “Are these yours?”  
“Yeah!” Rocket took them from Quill, “I was looking for those.”  
Quill raised an eyebrow, “What are they?”  
“Bombs,” Rocket said.  
“I am Groot!” Groot said, jumping up and down on the bed.  
“Yeah I know what bombs do Groot,” Quill said, before shaking his head at Rocket. “What is it with you and bombs?”  
“What is it with you and 70’s music?” Rocket countered, shoving them in his backpack.  
Quill crossed his arms, “Touche.”  
“Douche,” Rocket grinned, pronouncing the word as if it rhymed.  
“That’s not how you say it,” Quill said. “They’re just spelled similarly.”  
“I know, it’s just fun to get you annoyed,” Rocket said, climbing up onto his bunk bed and grabbing some stuff out of his bag.   
“I am Groot?” the tree asked, tugging on Quill’s leg.  
“Peter’s going to be fine,” he assured Groot. “In the meantime, I don’t know what to do. Just sit around I guess.”  
“Listen to your 70’s music,” Roket suggested.  
“Yeah I know, I am-” Quill started to say, before he saw Rocket’s smirk and realized he had been teasing him. Quill scowled, “No! Not nice. Alright, hey, that’s my music ok? You have your hobbies, I have mine.”  
“Yeah, yeah yeah, well when you figure out what the plan is, let me know,” Rocket said, fiddling with some metal thing and wires. Quill guessed it was probably another bomb.  
“I will,” Quill said, waving to Groot who was bouncing on the bed again.  
“Bye Star Prince,” Rocket called.  
“Trash Panda!” Quill yelled over his shoulder. He shut the door and knocked on Gamora’s door.   
A new song had come in on his Zune: Wildfire.  
“Come in,” Gamora said.  
Quill walked in.   
“I don’t have a signal,” Gamora said angrily, referring to their comms.  
“Well yeah, there’s a lot more satellites here than on other planets. You’re not going to get one,” Quill said.  
“I feel disconnected Quill,” she said.  
Quill took out the ear phones and the music filled the room.  
Gamora gave him a look, “I’m not in the mood.”  
“Michael Martin Murphey. 1975’s Wildfire,” Quill said. He took her hand, “Dance with me.”  
“I don’t want to dance,” Gamora sighed.  
“Yeah you do,” Quill said.  
“No, I don’t.”  
He spun her around. “Remember the first time I danced with you? And I told you about Kevin Bacon?”  
“And I almost slit your throat,” Gamora recalled.  
“You thought they had sticks up their butts,” Quill smirked.  
Gamora smiled a bit. Quill held out his hand and she pursed her lips. He raised his eyebrows and she finally gave in with a small smile, rolling her eyes. She placed her other hand on his shoulder. They started to sway and Quill gave her a smirk.   
Gamora put her arms around him and whispered, “If you ever tell anyone about this I will slit your throat.”  
“I know,” Quill whispered back. “So I won’t tell anyone about this either.”   
He locked eyes with her and leaned in, kissing her gently. Gamora was trying really hard not to show her smile, but Quill knew it was there. He let her spin out, and Gamora stopped when their arms were straight before turning slowly back towards him. Quill stopped her and caught her waist. They were really close.  
The song’s melody bounced off the walls. “For six nights in a row, She's coming for me, I know. And on Wildfire we're both gonna go,”  
Quill kissed her again and this time she kissed him back. The moment was interrupted by Quill’s peripheral vision. He turns and nearly jumps out of his skin. Drax is standing in the doorway, his jaw dropped to the floor.  
Gamora steps back from Quill, groaning.  
“What the heck is wrong with you dude? Ever heard of knocking?” Quill shouts angrily.   
“You’re a dancer?” Drax roars loudly to Gamora.  
Gamora knits her eyebrows, still embarrassed, “What?”  
“Quill! I said find someone pathetic,” Drax scoffed at him, “like you!”  
Gamora smirks behind her hand.  
“Drax! You can’t just barge in here-” Quill says, trying to push him out, “we were having a moment!”  
“Is it about the unspoken thing?” Mantis asks, standing right behind Drax.  
Quill jumps again, scared by her sudden appearance, “What is with you people just appearing-”  
“There is no unspoken thing,” Gamora calls out of habit.  
“Oh yeah sure,” Quill says, making a face behind him.   
“Yes there is! There is,” Drax insists.  
“Oh really? You think?” Quill yells at him sarcastically.  
“Yes!” Drax clearly doesn’t get the sarcasm, “You kissed!”   
Mantis gasped, “You kissed?”   
Gamora groans again.  
“What’s goin’ on-” Rocket says, standing right in front of Quill who jumps again.  
“Do you guys just appear out of freaking thin air?” Quill splutters.  
Rocket attempts to enter the room that Mantis and Drax are being pushed out of.   
Quill yells a jumble of words that are inaudible and pushes all of them backward, “No, no, no! Out! Both of you! All of you! Groot don’t you dare!” The tree stops in tracks; he had been tip-toeing forward. He turns and sprints back to his room. Quill slams the door shut, and leans against it, sighing loudly.   
A new song is playing on the Zune: Dancing in the Moonlight.  
“Dancin' in the moonlight, Everybody's feelin' warm and bright. It's such a fine and natural sight. Everybody's dancin' in the moonlight…”   
Quill sighs again before he walks back over to Gamora. He clasps her hand again and twirls her as if nothing happened.  
“Quill-” Gamora laughs.  
Quill grins, kissing her again. “Where were we?” 

Tony runs down the hallway, sprinting to the medical bay.   
Natasha looks up from the magazine she was reading. She smiles slightly, “Tony he’s fine-”   
Tony shakes his head, barging past her and pushing hard on the door, “It’s not him, it’s me-”   
He bursts into the room and stops right as he gets through the door, staring at his kid. Peter looks up from his phone and knits his eyebrows.  
“Tony is everything-”  
Tony doesn’t know how to explain himself. He tries his best, “Kid I-I- you didn’t tell me. I just thought I went unconscious. When you found me I didn’t know that...” Tony trailed off.  
Peter seems to understand and he swings his legs over the bed and hops to the floor, stumbling forward in effort to get to Tony who also surges forward. Tony catches him and hugs him, in shock.  
“Peter, I’m so sorry.” Tony doesn’t know what else to say.  
“It’s ok. It’s ok,” Peter says, hugging him tighter despite his hurt ribs. Tony just holds him, frozen, and he looks down at his kid, right in the eyes, “Pete I…” He doesn’t have any words.   
What does he say?   
Sorry I died right in front of you.   
Sorry I made you restart my heart. S  
orry I put you through that.  
Sorry for everything.   
“I’m sorry,” Tony said. “FRIDAY told me what happened, I didn’t know…”  
“You’re ok Tony. That’s all I care about,” Peter said softly.  
“Thanks to you kid,” Tony reminds him. He would have punched him lightly in the arm if Peter wasn’t hurt.   
Peter blushes, “Yeah.”  
Tony holds him at shoulder length and grins, “I’m lucky to have you Pete. Sure, you’re a little rough around the edges but we’ll make it work,” Tony teased, before he looked Peter in the eyes, “But you did well. Really well. I’m proud of you kid.”  
“Thanks,” Peter said, his eyes gleaming with pride. Tony likes that look.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I said, some intense stuff up ahead to finish this Part 1 off! Part 2 will be some Irondad moments in Infinity war...yes I'm doing THAT scene as well and some bonus content I added for when the camera is on someone else. I also do some really powerful scenes or funny ones just because I find it soooo much fun to write. So yes stay tuned for that, it's coming right after I finish up this one.
> 
> But for now let's stay focused, sry I went off on a tangent haha...  
> Hope you liked this chapter, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the story, and stay tuned for Chapter 16!


	16. That's my boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony and Pepper reunite and have a long overdue date. Then...I lied. Guardians have to yeet back across the galaxy about half-way through this chapter. Sorry :(   
> Butttt not before we get some last minute humor in, like Drax stealing the zune, and some heartfelt goodbyes.   
> After they leave we get some Tony Peter moments, and a wonderful and entertaining conversation with the beloved General Ross. (One of my favorite Peter moments in the whole story right here)  
> Enjoy!!! And thank you all soooo much for your comments, I love hearing your thoughts!

Tony walks quickly to the main entrance when FRIDAY tells him Pepper is here. He's on the second level so he sees her from the balcony, dressed in a white shirt and jeans, her beautiful red hair tied back into a ponytail. Tony almost forgets that he doesn’t have any functioning suits and turns to jump off the balcony which he usually does to scare her. This time however, no suit would have come and stopped his fall for a dramatic entrance and Tony is glad he remembered. He hurries down the stairs and she sees him as she walks into the building. Her eyes fill with tears and she runs forward and Tony meets her in the middle of the room and hugs her.  
“I’m so sorry Pep,” he says softly, hugging her tighter before pulling away and kissing her. Gosh, he’d missed Pepper so much. She and Peter were all he really cared about. Pepper kisses him back, her hands tight around him and as Tony pulls away and hugs her again. He takes a deep breath for the first time in a long time.  
“Are you ok?’ Pepper asks, clutching his arms, his shoulders, his hands.  
“I’m fine Pepp,” he assures her, “I promise.”  
“You don’t keep your promises,” she grumbles, smirking slightly.  
“That’s true,” Tony said, cracking a smile.  
“I’m glad you’re ok,” she says.  
“Me too,” Tony nods, rubbing a hand on the back of his neck.   
“So what now?” Pepper asks.   
He shakes his head, blinking, “I’ll have to start some prototypes over, fix some of the tech that got ruined, Peter’s suit is trashed so we have to fix that, reconstruction should be done in a month-”  
“Do you ever get a break?” Pepper asked.  
“I don’t think so,” Tony admits. “That’s what happens when you’re a genius billionaire playboy philanthropist. I’m popular, people love me. And they want to kill me too.”  
“Uh huh,” Pepper rolls her eyes.  
“Hey, we’ll start over, and the suits will just be as a backup. More like a precaution,” he says.  
“Yeah, I think I’ve heard that before,” Pepper smiles.   
“I should promise you,” Tony suggests.   
Pepper gives him a look and he nods, grinning.  
“I should! I will!” Tony laughs, kissing her again. Pepper grins against the kiss and pushes his chest playfully.  
“How’s everyone else?” she asks, her gaze becoming serious. “And Peter, what about Peter? Is he ok?”  
Tony blinks and frowns, “He’s...he’s ok.”  
“Can I see him?” Pepper asks, looking past Tony towards the stairs.  
“He’s sleeping,” Tony says sadly. “He went through a lot.”   
He told her (with difficulty) about the bombing and then him getting on the ship, and then the team coming and Peter coming, and then about the Guardians…  
Pepper listened intently, pursing her lips every once in a while.   
Tony got to the part where he sent her the message, how his heart stopped, and what he had put Peter through…   
Tony took a breath to collect his thoughts and Pepper hugged him before he continued.   
“Oh Tony,” she said.  
He talked about how the bomb had been placed and then Peter running back in and afterward Tony going after him and finding him on the floor. Then how he and Peter had gotten out of there with Peter inside the suit, and then how his kid had switched the suit and crashed into the pavement. Tony didn’t want to tell Pepper about the jet problems but he found that once he started talking he didn’t stop, so he told her about that too until finally, she was all caught up.  
“So yeah,” Tony said, clearing his throat, eager to change the subject, “great little vacation to Canada, eh?”  
Pepper’s face had shock written all over it and she hugged him again, “Oh my gosh, Tony. Are you ok?”  
“Always,” he waves her off. “So now you’re caught up I guess,” Tony shrugged. Then he bit his lip, “And uh, May knows.”  
“How?” Pepper asked.  
Tony makes a face, “She sort of saw Peter in the Spiderman suit with all of us around him so I think she figured it out,” Tony said dryly.  
Pepper raised her eyebrows, “And?”  
“Don’t know,” Tony shrugged, “I’m talking to her tomorrow. I had to get Peter to the med bay.”  
“What do you have to do now?” Pepper asks.  
Tony rubs his forehead, “A lot of things.”  
“Could any of those things wait? Because you need a break and you’re taking me to dinner,” Pepper announced.  
“Oh I am, am I?” Tony said, smiling.  
“Yes,” Pepper nodded.   
“Go Tony,” a voice said. Tony turned around and saw Nat at the second level.  
She smiled, “Hi Pepper.”  
“Natasha, good to see you,” Pepper said sweetly, lacing her fingers with Tony’s. “Would you mind if I borrowed Tony for a couple hours?”  
Romanoff smirked, “Not at all. Take him. He’s so annoying.”  
“Oh, so I take it you two are best friends now?” Tony pointed back and forth. “You plan this? Clever.”  
“We didn’t plan anything,” Natasha laughed, “but you could use a break from bossing us around,” she teased.  
Pepper hooked her arm in Tony’s, “Yep.”  
Tony resisted a bit, shaking his head, “Pepp I can’t-”  
Natasha groaned, “Yes you can Tony. Peter will be fine. We’ve got maximum security and tabs on everyone. Go.”  
“Are you sure?” He asked.  
“100%,” Nat said.  
“Well, it looks like you’ve got yourself a date Mrs. Potts,” he said to Pepper. “You know, about that last name...you should really change it. Stark fits better.”  
“Oh really? Well then I guess I should get married then,” Pepper suggests playfully as they walk out of the building, hand in hand.   
“You should. Look into it,” Tony suggested.  
“That’s a good idea. I have this ring…” Pepper held up her hand and grinned, “Convenient.”  
“Wow. Is that a diamond? He must love you a lot,” Tony whistles.  
Pepper kisses him lightly, “Oh, he does.”  
15 minutes later, Pepper and Tony walk into a restaurant.  
The waitress doesn’t look up and she asks out of habit, “Would you like a table?”  
“No, we’ll take the floor,” Tony says.  
The waitress looks up, and her annoyance disaperates when she sees who’s she’s talking to.  
“Stark- Mr. Stark, sir. My apologies. This way please-” the waitress stammers, flustered.   
Pepper hits Tony on the arm and Tony laughs.   
They sat down, and Tony hadn’t realized how hungry he was. He ate and talked and laughed, and for the first time in a while, he was relatively calm. It was a good feeling.

3 days later

Peter and Quill were sitting on the couch, tapping their feet and mumbling along to “New York Groove” as Peter taught Quill how to play Mario Kart.  
“Here I am, and in this city, with a fistful of dollars. And baby, you'd better believe I'm back, back in the New York Groove-”  
The song suddenly stopped and both Peter and Quill looked up.   
“Drax!” Quill yells, “Put it back on!”  
“No!” Drax says, holding the Zune and backing away, “It’s the same song!” he yells angrily, “I would rather have your Awesome Mix than hearing this over and over and over!”  
“It’s New York Groove! We’re in New York!” Quill splutters. Peter pauses the game as Quill gets up from the couch and holds out his hand to Drax.  
“Zune,” Quill demands, “give me the Zune,”  
“No!” Drax says, backing around the other end of the couch. Quill lunges over Peter as Drax moves out of the way, circling around again.  
“It’s the same song Quill!” Drax says, holding the Zune out of his reach.  
“I will listen to Ace Frehley when I want,” Quill shouts, “give me the Zune!”  
“I will not!” Drax says, holding Quill back with his front hand, his other hand behind his back, clutching the Zune.  
Peter sighs and aims his web-shooter, tapping his two fingers to his palm. His well placed web latches onto the Zune and yanks it from Drax’s grasp. It flies neatly into Peter’s hand and he winks at Drax who glares at him.  
“Peter, how are you feeling?” (That’s May from the kitchen.)  
Peter looks up, handing the Zune back to Quill who grins, presses play, and sinks back onto the couch as the song resumes.  
“Fine,” he calls. He got his voice back and most of the breaks and fractures had healed.   
“Good,” she says.  
Peter’s glad she took it well. She had come to the compound first thing in the morning the day after they all got back and he and Tony had told her everything...well, almost everything. May hadn’t freaked outtoo much; Tony had made sure of that. Peter was so glad he had him by his side; he couldn’t have talked to her about all of it by himself. It had ended in hugs and tears. The main thing was that May was fine with Peter being Spiderman when she saw how much it meant to him. She also saw how close he and Tony had gotten. He knew May couldn’t help but notice the use of ‘my kid’, the way Tony ruffled his hair once in a while, or that Tony had an arm draped over Peter’s shoulders. Whenever a father-son moment showed, Peter saw May straighten, her eyes going a little wide, before she smiled a little, her eyes filling with tears. Peter hugged her and then Tony sent him off to bed again and talked to her afterward, apologizing and answering the rest of May’s questions.  
Steve walks by into the other room and nods to Aunt May who had been hanging out at the compound, “Hi ma’am.”  
“Hi,” May responds to Steve, her voice a little higher than usual. She looked at Peter who was grinning and she mouthed, Captain America!   
Peter grinned. She was still getting used to being in the same room as the Avengers. Peter turned back to his game, getting ahead of Quill and speeding past him. He won the race and Quill sighed, tossing his controller down.  
Peter gave a little fist pump and smirk and Quill grinned and punched him lightly in the shoulder, “Wipe that smirk off your face Parker.”  
“No,” Peter laughed before he looked at Quill and said. “So are you really gonna leave?”  
Quill frowns, then gives a sad smile, “Yeah kid. We have to. Who’s gonna save the galaxy?”  
Peter sighed, “I guess you’re right. But you’re gonna come back and visit?”  
“Definitely,” Quill promises, “and if you ever need us, like if there’s another alien invasion or something, kick Tony’s ego out of the way for me and send us a message ok?”  
“Okay,” Peter grins.  
“I seriously don’t know how he fits his head into his helmet,” Quill says, shaking his head.  
“Same way you do,” Peter grins, immediately defending Tony.   
Quill lets out a loud laugh, “Hey!”  
He and Quill start another race as a rematch. Peter lets him win this one.

1 day later

Quill shakes Tony’s hand, the last in the line of Avengers that stood around him and his friends as they said goodbye.  
“Thank you Quill,” Tony says, “for everything.”  
“Hey, thanks for letting us stay,” Quill says, before nodding at him and giving him a smile. He picked up his duffle bag, turning around. Groot was giving Peter a hug; the kid crouching to embrace the tiny tree. Quill saw a huge crocodile tear in Groot’s eye. He’d have to put on Mr. Blue Sky later to cheer Groot up. The tree waved at Peter, whom Quill had already said goodbye to, before he turned away and walked slowly toward Quill, dragging his feet. Quill picked him up and put him on his shoulder. Quill raised his eyebrows at his other friend that was walking by his side, “Getting a little teary eyed?”   
Rocket had just tried to wipe his face with his fist and the racoon glared at him, “What? No. Quill shut up, just smoke…”  
“Oh. Ok,” Quill said, tempted to point out that there was no smoke. Gamora slipped her hand in his and they headed to their ship. Quill stepped onto the ramp, the last to board. He waves one last time to Peter and nods at Tony before the door closes. He climbs up the steps and straps Groot in before getting into his seat and putting on his seatbelt.  
“I shall miss the Spider boy. He was a good ally in battle,” Drax decides.  
“I will miss him too,” Mantis says sadly. “I will miss all of them.”  
“Me too,” Quill sighs. He flicks through his playlist and pushes “O-O-H Child”. They could use a little of Five Stairsteps right now.   
“Oooo child things are gonna get easier. Oooo child things will get brighter…”  
“Alright guys, let’s go,” Quill says, but even he can’t help his sad tone.   
Then something hits the windshield.  
“What the,” Quill jumps, squinting at it.  
“Wipers! Wipers! Get it off,” Rocket growls.  
“Wait...” Quill knows what it is and he cranes his head to check the tar mac. Sure enough, Peter is there in front of their ship, his arm outstretched. Quill knows that his two fingers are against his palm because that’s a web that’s on his ship. The kid is yelling and waving his arms. Then he points to the back of the ship. Quill gives him a thumbs up, unhooks his seatbelt, and hurries down the steps, pushing the button for the back ramp. It opens up and Peter is there. Quill jogs down to meet him. There’s something in Peter’s hand.   
“I promised,” Peter said, handing him this weird rectangular thing.   
“It’s an iPhone,” Peter says, “Tony did some stuff to it. You can listen to music on it. And there’s other stuff too, like games, and a camera. We don’t know how much will work in space though. Tony made a manuel, it’s taped to the back. It shows you how to hook it up to your ship and stuff, but yeah. So you can listen to whatever music you want on it. I already made you a playlist of just some of the Awesome Mix songs. I think you’ll like it,” Peter said, grinning and taking a breath after the long speech he had just said.  
Quill almost teared up. He looked at Peter, “Thanks kid.”  
Peter gives him a hug and Quill hugs him back. He thinks of the kid as a little brother. Quill knows he has to pull away at some point and when he does, Peter backs up, giving him a bright smile. Quill smiles again and holds the iPhone tight before he walks back up the ramp and closes it behind him.   
“Bye Peter,” he says.  
“Bye Peter,” Peter grins. The kid waves one last time before it cuts him off from view. Quill drags himself back up to his seat and Rocket fires up the engines.   
Quill turns on the phone and he lets Rocket take control over the ship. They lift off while he follows the directions Tony gave him on the manuel.   
A minute later they’re in space, Earth fading behind them, and Quill finally hooks the phone up to the ship and scrolls through the playlist Peter made him.  
Come and Get Your Love  
Hooked on a Feeling  
Ain’t No Mountain High Enough  
Dancing in The Moonlight  
Brandy  
Rubberband Man  
New York Groove  
O-O-H Child  
I want you back  
Mr. Blue Sky  
Come A Little Bit Closer  
Take the Money and Run  
Wildfire  
Quill grins, shaking his head. He loved that kid. He presses play and they listen to it for 5 hours straight, and no one complains.

1 Day later

Peter sat on his bed, staring at the ceiling, with earphones in. He didn’t have any homework; it was Friday, and there was a conference meeting in 30 minutes. So, Peter had time to chill. He turned up his music. The soundtrack he had given Quill was the same one that he was listening too. Cheesy or not, it made Peter feel connected with his far-away friends.  
The familiar twang came on and Peter had to laugh because he remembered Quill dancing to his song, using a water bottle as a microphone and spinning around in the kitchen while Tony secretly videotaped him.  
“What the matter with your mind and your sign and a ohohoh...”  
Peter’s about to close his eyes when his door cracks open. Tony peeks his head in, “Hey kid.”  
“Hey,” Peter says.  
Tony comes in and sits down on the bed next to him, “What are you listening to?”  
“Come and Get Your Love,” Peter grins.  
Tony groans, “Now it’s movie references and 70’s music.”  
Peter laughs. Then he hands an earbud to Tony who sighs, but puts it in his ear.   
“What the matter with your feel right don't you feel right baby. Get it from the mainline all right…”  
“I miss them,” Peter said. Tony scoots backward so that he’s up against the wall on the bed and Peter moves backward too.  
“I miss them too Pete,” Tony says sincerely, draping an arm around Peter’s shoulders.   
“Quill said to call him if there’s ever another big invasion or something,” Peter mumbled.   
“He told me to kick your ego out of the way. He doesn’t know how you fit your head into your helmet.”  
Tony lets out a laugh, “I’ve heard that before.” Then he grins, shakes his head, and asks Peter, “And what did you say?”  
Peter grins, “I said same way he fits into his.”  
Tony laughed, a wide smile on his face and he squeezes Peter’s shoulder, “You’re really taking keys from the master now.”  
Peter smiled, and then they returned to silence.  
“Come and get your love, come and get your love, come and get your love now.”  
“How are you feeling?” Tony asked Peter.  
“Fine,” Peter shrugged, before he smirked, “I’m not going to combust or something. I’m fine, really.”  
Tony rolls his eyes, “Well if you do plan on combusting, let me know so I can video tape please?”  
“I will,” Peter laughs.   
Hooked on a Feeling comes on, and Peter figures Tony will leave, probably because he’s had enough of the music, but he doesn’t. He stays put, his arm still protectively around Peter’s shoulder. Peter smiles to himself. Tony doesn’t even leave when Hooked On a Feeling ends, nor when Ain’t No Mountain High Enough ends either. They sit there listening to Quill’s music until it’s time for the meeting, and Peter almost falls asleep on Tony’s shoulder.  
Sam came in and told them it was time to go. Peter turned off the music and he and Tony got up and walked out of the room. Tony’s arm still hadn’t moved from his shoulder as they walked down the halls and into the conference room. Peter took his seat next to Tony and watched people file in. It was like one big family, everyone talking and laughing and poking fun at one another. Peter was a really lucky kid.

“First things first. Ross wants to talk to us,” Cap said, as soon as they all had taken their seats. The bickering slowed down and heads turned. Peter spun back and forth in his chair, nervously, watching the wide range of expressions.  
“That’s nice,” Tony says nonchalantly. “I’m doing an experiment where I sleep with my eyes open, maybe I can try it out?”  
Peter grins.   
Cap shakes his head, “I don’t like it either, but I think we should hear what he wants to say.”  
“Maybe he wants to apologize?” Sam asks.  
“Oh I would like that,” Tony says. “A nice card maybe? Handwritten? Those bring tears to my eyes.”  
“I doubt it. This is Ross we’re talking about,” Rhodey grumbled.   
Sam nods, frowning.  
“He wants to make a new accord,” Cap said hesitantly.  
Silence.  
Peter looked back and forth across the table. Uh oh.   
“We saw how that worked last time,” Tony said, breaking the silence. “Hypothetically: not awesome.”  
“It won’t happen again,” Cap said firmly, “but I do want to point out that because we can say no now, I say we make our own rules and have them sign it this time.”  
“Cool,” Peter grins, “way to turn the tables.”   
Cap nodded, “Exactly Pete.”   
Peter had gotten more comfortable talking in meetings. He sprouted ideas and movie lines, or cracked jokes alongside Tony to ease tension. No one had a problem with it. In fact, Tony said they liked having him around, even though he officially wasn’t one of the Avengers yet. Peter wondered when and how that would happen.   
“I don’t like being told what to do,” Tony smirks before he puts up his hand, “and before you ask why I signed the accords, I’ll tell you. I thought we needed to be put in check, which is different, and I still agree that there needs to be some boundaries when doing large scale things. But in the end,” he looks at Steve and nods at him, “we’re better at what we do when we do it our way.”  
Peter grins again, and looks around the room, still feeling somewhat out of place in a room with all of his role models. He’s young and inexperienced, yet he’s sitting with Earth’s best defenders.   
“Sticking together is more important than how we stick together,” Natasha says, smiling slightly at Cap. Peter guesses that was an inside thing.   
“Following rules isn’t my style Cap,” Tony shrugs.  
“I’m not a fan of style either Tony,” Cap starts to say before Tony coughs out a laugh.  
“Says the man wearing a flashy red and blue outfit?” Tony smirks.  
“Hey, I wear a red and blue outfit,” Peter grumbled.  
“Yeah but yours is cooler,” Tony says plainly, giving a grinning Peter a high five. “No offense Cap.” Tony winks at Peter. Just then the phone rings from the speaker, making them all jump.  
“It’s Ross,” FRIDAY announces. Even the A.I. can’t hide the annoyance in her tone.  
“Answer,” Tony sighs.  
Peter hasn’t even met the guy, but the way he had been described, Peter doesn’t think he likes him. A bad picture has been painted by the other Avengers and Peter self-consciously crinkles his nose as a gruff voice comes from the speakers, “Stark we need to-”  
“Hold please,” Tony says, and pushes a button on his wrist.  
“No Stark-” The voice cuts off.  
Tony waits, drumming his fingers on the table. Peter raises an eyebrow and Tony looks up and explains, “Oh, I put him on hold. I like to watch the line blink, and it’s just fun,” Tony grins.   
Peter laughs.  
“I think it’s been long enough,” Tony decides, sighing and pushing another button.  
“Stark?” Ross asks. He sounds annoyed.  
“What’s poppin Thunderbolt?” Tony sighs, putting his feet up on the table.   
Peter lets out a laugh. Cap smirks. The rest of the Avengers chuckle.  
“I take it I’m on speaker,” Ross says.  
“Yes you are. Say hi, everyone,” Tony says.  
A chorus of monotone hellos comes from around the table.   
“We need to talk,” Ross states.  
“We’re talking,” Tony says plainly.  
“In person,” Ross man corrects himself.  
“You know my address,” Tony says, casually leaning back in his chair.  
There’s a pause on the line and Peter waits for the response.  
“Now?”  
“Sure, let me drop everything to work on your problem,” Tony sighs.  
‘“I’ll be there in an hour.”  
“Oh joy,” Tony says, his voice laced with fake excitement. Peter can’t help but grin. He loves Tony’s sense of humor- the witty sarcasm he uses as his first line of defense. Peter hopes to pick it up eventually.   
Ross speaks again, “And Stark-”  
“Hold please,” Tony says before he stands up and stretches. He then says, “I’m getting cheese and crackers or something. I’m hungry. Anyone else?”  
The Avengers nod in unison. It was lunch time.   
They all then stare at the phone, wondering if they should continue the call. Tony grins and looks at the phone, pushing in his chair. He says, “I wonder how long until he realizes I hung up.”

About 45 minutes later, they’re still in the kitchen. Peter is laughing about something Sam said about Cap. Scott is back from his visit with Cassie that day and he steals a cracker from Peter’s plate, hopping into a bar stool next to him. Tony’s on his left. Cap is arm wrestling Clint. Natasha is reffing and poking fun at them for taking so long. Peter thinks Cap is winning, and maybe taking it easy on Clint. Hawkeye looks like he’s about to die from loss of oxygen, his face red and his jaw clenched and Cap hasn’t even broken a sweat, and trying to hold back a smile. Vision is standing by Wanda who is trying to make his soup edible; they all had spit it out when they tried it a couple minutes ago. That had been funny. Clint had some come out of his nose.   
Bucky’s laughing with Rhodes, leaning against the counter.   
Peter taps Scott, grinning, and slides him a plate of orange slices he had pre-cut, “Here Scott.”  
Scott groans, laughing, “It was one time! I asked for it one time!”  
Tony grins, “And that was one time too many. Enjoy your orange slices.”  
Scott laughs and eats them anyway, muttering, “Alright Tony Stank.”  
Tony looks at Rhodes with wide eyes, “You told him?”   
“I told everyone!” Rhodes laughs.  
Tony mutters something, shaking his head and Cap looks up from the newspaper, “Language.”  
Everyone laughs. Peter can’t stop grinning.   
“Tony he’s coming,” FRIDAY announces a couple seconds later. Peter guesses she means Ross.  
“Did you send him the long way like I asked?” Tony said hopefully.  
“Yes, but I didn’t do the sprinkler system. That’s too mean Tony,” FRIDAY says with a hint of amusement in her voice.  
“He deserves it,” Tony grumbles. Peter laughs.   
“Ok, well, I did my best,” Wanda says with a smirk, pouring the soup into each of their bowls.  
Clint grins, tasting the soup. He nods slowly, “Not bad.”   
Peter takes a sip. It’s much better than last time, but he still doesn’t like it. He makes a face and everyone sees, laughing.   
Wanda assures them, “I did what I could!”  
“It’s better, it’s much better,” Steve says with a smile.  
“When life gives you lemons, make lemonade,” Clint supplies.  
“When life gives you lemons you throw them at people you hate,” Tony corrects.   
Peter grins, and then the door opens. A man in a suit walks in with a briefcase. He’s got a mean face and Peter doesn’t like him at all, just by his expression, his mannerism, and his gaze.  
Peter’s pretty sure the man who walks towards the kitchen is General Ross.  
“Anyone have a lemon?” Tony asks under his breath. Everyone chuckles.  
“Stark,” Ross nods at Tony, holding out his hand.  
“Ka-chow Lightning,” Tony says, shaking the outstretched hand in slight disdain.   
Peter laughs quietly at the Cars reference.   
Ross’s head snaps toward him so fast that Peter jumps. Ross looks directly at Peter and narrows his eyes, giving him a harsh glare. Peter glares back, but still shifts uncomfortably, scooting a little closer to Tony.  
“Who’s that?” Ross asks suspiciously.  
“I don’t think you’ve met yet,” Tony says, putting a reassuring hand on Peter’s shoulder. “This is Peter.”  
Peter holds out his hand to be polite and Ross doesn’t even shake it, as if Peter doesn’t get the honor. Peter slowly puts his hand down, looking at Tony who whispers, “The General has a deadly fear of hands, don’t take it personally.”  
“Always with the humor Stark. I’m gonna have to ask if ‘Peter’ can leave the room,” Ross says.  
Peter figured that would be the case. He looks down, frowning, and is about to get up when a hand pushes him back down by his shoulder.  
“No,” Tony says plainly. That was his hand firm on Peter’s shoulder.  
“What?” Ross looks confused like he doesn’t know what the word means.   
“You want me to say it again? No. He stays,” Tony says firmly, glaring at Ross. His mouth is a tight line, his eyebrow raised, as if daring him to counter. Peter hides a smile and his pride.   
“Stark-” Ross protests.  
“He stays,” Steve repeats, before Tony can blow up at the man. The team moves closer to Tony and Peter, glaring at Ross as well.   
Steve stands up and crosses his arms but nods politely, “Ross.”  
“Rogers,” Ross nods back at him.   
Peter can practically feel the tension in the room. Ross is severely outnumbered and Peter doesn’t know how he’s not withering on the spot; every single person, including Peter, is staring coldly at him.   
He must get that expression a lot because the man doesn’t seem phased, or maybe he’s just not showing that he is, which Peter admires in a twisted way.   
Tony clasps his hands, making everyone jump and sighs, “Let’s get this over with, shall we?”

Ross is still talking after 10 minutes and Tony can’t help but yawn. Ross doesn’t notice. Tony does it again, just to be obnoxious. This time Ross does notice and he trails off.  
The man glares at him, “Am I boring you?”  
“No I yawn when I’m generally intrigued-” Tony says dryly, “yes you are Ross. And I’m sorry, but I don’t understand how you think that you can just come out here and try and tell us the same stuff that you told us months ago. It didn’t end well. So unless my time machine worked, then I think we’re done here. The only way we’re doing the accords is if we have a say in what’s on them.”  
“We’ll make the accords and contact you,” Sam said from behind him.   
“That won’t work,” Ross shakes his head.  
“And why not?” Scott asked angrily.  
Tony raises his hand, “You split us with the accords, realized you made a mistake when we weren’t there to save your butts, and now you want to do it again?”  
“No, we just want to have an understanding,” Ross said.  
“I understand that you were wrong,” Tony said, leaning forward and blinking, raising his eyebrows.  
“What are you waiting for?” Ross sighs to Tony.  
“An apology,” Tony snapped, before he leaned back in his chair, “I’ll pack a lunch if it will be a while. Peter, you want a ham and cheese sandwich?”  
“Yeah that sounds good,” Peter said saltily, glaring at Ross. He didn’t even miss a beat. Tony resisted a smile; he loved his kid.   
“We just needed assurance and we needed space,” Ross said, totally ignoring the apology bit.  
“There’s always NASA,” Tony suggested. “Maybe switch fields? Expand your horizons? Loosen up a bit?”  
“Your assurance cost us a lot,” Clint snapped.  
“And I apologize for that but it’s not my problem,” Ross said.  
“But see, it is your problem sir, if you choose to do this again,” Rhodey said angrily.  
“If I remember correctly, your signature was on there,” Ross said cockily.  
“Yeah and I’m pretty sure I paid for that. Luckily I was the worst case scenario, not the best. And we’d like to keep it that way,” Rhodes said back.  
“Listen,” Ross said, as if he was trying to reason with little kids, “I care about the world.”  
“There’s a tree outside you can hug,” Tony suggested.  
“Can your ego get any bigger?” Ross says in distaste.  
“Yeah it can,” Tony snaps, “Just keep talking.”  
Peter puts a hand discreetly on his back, a signal to calm down, but Peter’s gaze doesn’t leave Ross. Tony takes a breath, giving the kid a glance of thanks that he knows Peter sees out of the corner of his eye.   
“Look, we’re not signing anything unless we all agree on it,” Natasha says, “So if you have some big paper that you know we’ll all enjoy, give us a pen, but if it’s the bullcrap like last time, forget about it.”  
“That’s not how the world works,” Ross says.  
“Yeah but that’s how we work,” Tony responds.  
“The world disagrees. They think there should be limits,” Ross says.  
“Again with the limits! I feel like we’ve had this conversation before,” Tony says sarcastically.  
“It seems vaguely familiar,” Wanda agreed.  
Ross shakes his head and hands Tony a folder. He doesn’t take it.  
“Nope. I don’t like being handed things,” Tony says.   
Steve takes it instead and sighs, holding up papers with graphs on them. Tony is sure they measure bullcrap.   
Ross points at it, “The numbers prove that-”  
“The numbers are wrong,” Vision states suddenly. “It would not be wise to contradict me.” He did have the Mind Stone in his head after all and Ross doesn’t dare tell him he’s wrong.  
“Hey Ross? You can take your numbers and pie charts and all your fake stats and shove-” Tony starts to say.  
“Tony,” Steve cuts him off before he shakes his head at Ross and says, “You’re just making this worse. We’ve proven that bad things happen when we can’t do our job. So let us do our job. We’ll send you a copy of our Accords later.”  
“Yeah you heard the costumed hero from the 40’s,” Tony said happily, “Get lost Thunderbolt. You want our signatures? You can’t have them. So take your autograph book and go home.”  
“Unbelievable,” Ross says, grabbing his briefcase and walking to the door. He turned and spits out his last words, “You’re all egotistical vigilantes.”  
“How dare you?”   
Tony looks to his left in shock and does a double take. Peter is fuming, and the kid stands up from his chair. He walks around the table in front of everyone and starts to storm toward Ross who had stopped at the door and turned around.  
“What did you just say young man?” Ross says, meeting Peter in the middle of the room, towering over the kid by at least a foot, if not more. Peter though, doesn’t back down.  
“I said,” Peter repeated, “how dare you?” Peter’s voice was calm but angry. His eyes flashed, “You act like you’re so important, but you’re not. You sit behind a desk and reprimand the very people who are defending you.”  
“You don’t comprehend what you’re saying kid. This is beyond your understanding,” Ross sniffs, slightly surprised that this high school kid is calling him out. Tony’s watching this all happen with a grin on his face, his chest bursting with pride. He doesn’t step in, not yet, he just lets Peter go to town.  
“I know darn well what I’m saying,” Peter shoots back, “and I understand it perfectly. I understand that they’re trying to do their job, and you’re worried because they’re so good at it. You want to have the upper hand. Well you’re not going to sir. Because correct me if I’m wrong, but you can’t fly, you can’t fight, and you sure as heck can’t save the planet if you were asked to,” Peter said, getting right in Ross’ face. The General actually took a step back.  
Tony couldn’t help but grin. Bucky whistled from behind him. Ross was looking rather uncomfortable and it made Tony very happy.   
“I save the planet every day kid,” Ross says, but his retort didn’t have the tone to back it up.   
“Oh really?” Peter asked. The kid nodded, almost mocking Ross, “Behind a desk? Where were you when the battle of New York happened? Where were you when Ultron was trying to destroy the world in Sokovia?”   
Peter’s voice was rising. His jaw was clenched tight; he was speaking through his teeth.   
“I don’t think you get it sir. The only reason that this world is safe is because of them, and you treat them as if they’re doing something wrong. Well they’re not.”   
Tony’s worried Peter will web him to the wall or something but he can’t seem to move; he’s too busy smiling and just being in shock at how brilliant his kid is.  
“If you’re not here to thank them or congratulate them from stopping the deaths of millions of people, then you can get out. I don’t know why you’re here in the first place. You’re not the saint here sir, you have done nothing but criticize and blame. Wrap your corrupted mind around that,” Peter hisses angrily, his fists clenched in anger.  
“I think it’s time for you to leave, Ross,” Tony says, finally finding his voice. He holds back a smile, standing and walking over to Peter, putting an arm around the kid’s shoulder. Peter trails off, but his glare is still fierce. Ross opens his mouth to say something but now all of the Avengers have stood and fanned out beside Peter and Tony with their arms crossed. Peter’s glare is fiercest out of them all. Ross shuts his mouth, turns around, and walks out the door.   
There’s silence.   
Then Bucky whistles again. That breaks the ice and everyone is up, clapping Peter on the back or punching him lightly on the arm.  
They are all smiling, but Tony has the biggest grin on his face out of everyone. He realized just then that Peter’s gaze had been only on him.   
The kid was smiling because Tony was smiling. The kid was proud because Tony was proud. Tony looked Peter right in the eyes, his chest bursting with pride. He put his arm around Peter’s shoulders and grinned again.  
“That’s my boy,” Tony said. That was the happiest he had seen Peter in a long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dang Peter gosh I loved writing that...  
> Anyway :)   
> This is not the last of the Guardians! Possible foreshadowing> they will be kinda back but not physically back- it's confusing it will make sense later - in the last chapter as we wrap up Part 1 and ofc again in Infinity War, in which I write it slightly differently since they all have met already.  
> Thank you for reading, stay tuned for 17 which is coming tomorrow and thank you all so much for your support! <3  
> Comment your thoughts and I hope you enjoyed :)


	17. Take off the mask...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony is busy with conferences and phone calls etc and he and Pete's relationship becomes strained. Cue the Green Goblin who is introduced right when Peter needs Tony the most :(  
> Peter's on his way to school when 'Greenie' strikes so we get some action and a kid that we all know and love help Peter save the day...for now.
> 
> Enjoy these next couple chapters, they get pretty intense and we'll finish it off with some happy fun stuff before Part 2- Infinity War!  
> Enjoy!

Two weeks later, it was just Peter and Tony, but it wasn’t like the old times. The rest of the Avengers had gone to a “week-long” national convention about the Accords. Clint and Scott went back into temporary retirement until the whole thing blew over, so they were out of the picture, spending time with their families. Tony was dealing with the press in New York, keeping the information off the news, and battling any location rumors or angry opinions that came his way, while the rest of the team took an invisible jet to travel halfway around the world.  
Peter knew Tony was really busy so he only came by for the weekends, which was something he just did, not because Tony asked him. Even then though, on the weekends, Tony was distracted, and Peter usually worked on his suit alone in the labs.  
He tried not to take it personally; Tony was always in conference meetings, appearing at a media interview for TV or on the phone with someone extremely important. Peter would make dinner and bring it in to his office so Tony would actually eat because some nights, Peter knew he didn’t. Tony didn’t even sleep in his bed, just took naps at his desk unless Peter dragged him down the hallway. Yet despite his good intentions, Peter knew the minute he went to bed, Tony got up again and went down to his office to work through the night.  
Pepper and Peter had ganged up on Tony to make him eat and sleep as much as possible, but Pepper was on a trip at the moment, and she told Peter to just do his best.  
The whole thing was taking a toll on Tony; Peter would often come to the compound after school on Friday and find Tony either working or asleep on the couch, in his chair, or at his desk, with papers everywhere. Whenever Peter saw Tony, his face had pain, worry, stress and exhaustion written all over it. He hated seeing him that way. Peter just wanted the whole thing to be over, but unfortunately for him, he had to wait a while.  
It was Monday now.  
Weekdays, Peter would sit in his room, doing homework, listening to music, cooking and burning dinner with May, and training for decathlon with Ned and Michelle. Ned even came over for 3 nights in a row to build a new Lego Millenium Falcon, this one with 7,541 pieces which was fun. Ned of course, knew about the whole Spiderman thing, and he was doing his best to cheer up Peter, which he appreciated. It was just a weird feeling having the one thing that defined you be put on hold for a while.  
Peter was having fun he guessed, or at least he should have been having fun, but he really wasn’t. He had fun being with Tony, and not seeing him was kinda sad. Not being apart of that world Peter belonged to was something he wasn’t used to. He hated being Peter Parker, just a normal kid doing normal stuff. Peter felt empty. He realized what a big part of his life Spiderman was, and what a big part of his life Tony was. Peter didn’t even have the new suit, but he always had the old one in his backpack, wherever he went. He and Tony were fixing his Iron Spider one, but that had been postponed. He had a lot of free time to work on it, but Peter didn’t want to screw anything up so he decided he would wait for Tony. He would wait.  
Last weekend, Peter had made a few touch ups on his old suit, but he hadn’t put it on in a while. The streets of Queen were empty; the masked hero, the friendly neighborhood spider man had taken some time off. Peter finally decided the break was over one day after school.  
Peter jogged across the street, stopping at Delmar’s.  
“What’s up Mr. Delmar?” Peter calls. He hadn’t been here in a while; he was always rushing to Tony’s.  
“Mr. Parker! Long time no see,” the man called out, spreading his arms, “How do you like the new place?”  
“Love it,” Peter grinned. Every since that blast from those high tech weapons, the whole city had pitched in to make up for most of the damage, and the whole store had been renovated. Some additional touch ups had been done to modernize the place.  
“Number 5, boss? Your usual,” Mr. Delmar guessed, leaning on the counter.  
Peter nodded, “Yeah, and with pickles and can you-”  
“Smush it down real flat yeah yeah yeah…” Delmar waved his hand, grinning.  
Peter smiled, grabbing his favorite sour gummies and petting Murph, “Hey buddy.”  
The cat meowed.  
“Yeah I missed you too,” Peter said, scratching the cat behind his ears.  
“So why so long? What have you been up to?” Mr. Delmar asked.  
“Stark Internships,” Peter said, smiling.  
“Lucky kid, lucky kid,” Delmar said, “and what about school? Grades ok?”  
“All A’s,” Peter reported, handing him a 5 dollar bill, “One A-.”  
“How dare you,” Mr. Delmar teased. “I know you know Italian so I can’t talk about ur Aunt anymore can I?”  
“Nothing that you don’t want me to hear,” Peter joked.  
“Ah. So everything good?”  
“Yep, pretty much,”Peter nodded.  
Delmar nodded, “Good to hear.” He handed him his sandwich and Peter took it, smiling.  
“Thanks Mr. Delmar,” Peter said happily, waving goodbye.  
“Best sandwiches in Queens!” Delmar called.  
Peter ran across the street and jogged onto the sidewalk. He reached the alleyway and gleefully shoved the gate open, closing it behind him. Before he could change his mind, Peter kicked off his shoes, throwing them a little far forward, his hair falling in front of his face as he did so. He took off his sweater and shirt, before yanking down his pants, kicking down a trash can by accident. He grabbed the suit from the bottom of his bag and slipped into it, before putting the mask underneath his arm and shoving his shoes, pants and shirts into the bag. He learned his lesson last time and so he webbed his bag to the very high wall instead of the dumpster. Peter put the mask on and pressed the spider in the middle, the suit closing around his body.  
“Hey, Peter.” A familiar voice sounded in his ears.  
“Hey Karen,” Peter said happily. He picked up his bag with his sandwich and gummy bears and narrowed his eyes before jumping onto the building. Peter climbed up the wall and swung himself onto the roof, crouching and looking over the whole city below.  
“So what are we going to do today?”  
Peter shrugged, “I don’t know. Help the little guy, I guess. That’s what I do,” Peter said before grumbling, “That’s what I always do.”  
“Well if it’s any consolation, you’re very good at it.”  
“Thanks Karen,” Peter says. He swings himself to the next building and then the next, grudgingly admitting that he was feeling a little better being in the air. A smile was already creeping on his face. Peter practiced his powers, walking across a web tightrope, doing flips and somersaults wherever he could, spiraling through the air and swinging through the streets of New York. He helped an old lady across the street and was a little disappointed when he didn’t get a churro, stopped another bike robbery, got a woman’s purse back from someone, posed for the press just for fun, and even got a little more action by chasing after a getaway car from a nearby bank robbery. Peter stopped and crashed the car, webbing the tires and disarming the dazed criminals inside. He swung away before the cops could say anything. Peter figured after that he should lie low for while so he swung through the streets, flipping onto a building’s roof and sprinting across them. He then climbs down a wall to his favorite spot: a balcony at an abandoned apartment building. The red paint chipped off from the railings that Peter plopped himself down on.  
“Good job today Peter,” Karen said as he let out a sigh, kicking his legs back and forth, perched on the rail.  
“Thanks. It’s good to be back,” Peter said, raising his mask a bit so he could chomp down on the rest of his sandwich. He pulled out his phone and scrolled through the text messages he got. Most were from Ned about science and Star Wars. Peter grinned and texted him back, letting him know he probably couldn’t hang out later; Peter felt like staying out a little later. He turned his phone back on to text May. While he was trying to find her contact, saw a name he hadn’t seen in a while.  
HAPPY HOGAN.  
Peter grinned to himself. He remembered spamming Happy every second he could and calling him to let him know every single thing he did each day. Just because he felt like it, he clicked Happy’s contact and pressed the call button before he even knew what he was doing. Peter put the phone up to his ear and waited. Surprisingly, Happy picked up.  
“Hey Pete,” Happy said.  
“Hey Happy,” Peter said, unsure of what to say exactly.  
“You ok kid?”  
“Yeah I’m fine,” Peter said, “here’s my report for tonight. I stopped another grand theft bicycle-”  
“Peter,” Happy laughed.  
“Kidding,” Peter said, swinging his legs again and taking another bite out of his sandwich. “What are you doing?”  
“Just finishing up some media surveillance. You won’t believe how many pictures are on the news. Word travels way too fast,” Happy said. “How about you kid? I haven’t seen you in a while.”  
Peter sighs, “Yeah, well, I only come on weekends now but Tony’s barely around and he’s always doing something so…”  
He couldn’t hide the disappointment in his voice no matter how hard he tried, and Happy picked up on it.  
“I know kid. But he’s not ignoring you, he’s just really busy.”  
“I know,” Peter assured him, unsure of how to put it. He couldn’t put his feelings to words.  
“I just...I miss him,” Peter said quietly.  
Happy sighs on the other end, “I know you do kid, and he misses you too.”  
“You think?” Peter said happily.  
“Peter shut up,” Happy laughed, “of course he does. You’re like a son to him. You keep him sane half the time. He could never do any of this without you kid. He told me himself,” Happy promises.  
“Now get home. It’s getting late.”  
“It’s only 6 Happy,” Peter laughed, checking his clock in his mask display.  
“Yeah. I’m responsible for making sure you’re responsible,” Happy said, recalling a line he had said a couple months ago.  
Peter grinned, “Bye Happy. And thanks. I needed someone to talk to, I guess.”  
“Anytime kid,” Happy assured him.  
“Anytime?” Peter smirked.  
“Not anytime,” Happy said quickly, “sometimes. Hopefully rarely,” Happy teased.  
“Now scram kid. I’m supposed to be working and you’re distracting me.”  
“Bye,” Peter laughed, knowing he was joking but he still hung up. Peter felt a little bit better.  
“So are we heading home Peter?” Karen asked.  
Peter finished his sandwich and flicked crumbs off his lap, pulling his mask back down over his face, “No, I’m...I’m gonna stay out a little longer.”  
“Ok,” Karen said, “What are we going to do?”  
“I don’t know,” Peter admitted. There was nothing to do.  
He jumped off the balcony and shot a web, flipping himself into the air before tucking and spreading out his arms to engage his web wings. Peter floated in air for a little bit before spiralling down and shooting another web, swinging from building to building. He circled the city a couple of times, just swinging. Peter’s arms were getting tired and he sighed again. It was a pretty calm, silent night. Nothing much was going on. Peter wasn’t needed. Maybe Happy was right. Maybe he should go home. 

Tony was on the phone.  
Again.  
With Ross.  
Again.  
He rubbed a hand over his face as he talked into the speaker.  
“Ross I’ve told you, you have no say in this,” Tony drawled.  
“Why do you do this Stark? For a minute I thought we could be partners, and then you have to go and be as bad as Rogers.”  
Tony had the nerve to laugh just because he was done with caring.  
“You really are better when there’s a speech in front of you Ross, you really are,” Tony said, rubbing his eyes. He got 2 hours of sleep the night before, and that was just because Peter forced him to go to bed. Tony usually just slept for 20 minutes, made sure the kid was asleep and then went back to work, but last night, Peter had deliberately stayed up for 3 hours, leaning against his door so that Tony couldn’t get busted. Tony didn’t even think the kid knew about him not sleeping. Luckily, FRIDAY warned him before he tried to open the door and eventually, Peter got what he wanted. Tony actually slept for 4 hours, and then checked to see if Peter was gone, (which is was), and went back to work.  
Hopefully Peter thought he got some sleep. That kid was the only reason Tony wasn’t losing his freaking mind.  
“Why Stark?” Ross asked again, snapping Tony out of his daze.  
Tony sighed, “You know Tony spelled backwards is y not? That’s pretty much my life motto.”  
Ross scoffed on the other end, “Typical response of immaturity.”  
Tony had to smile. Usually Ross had snarkier comebacks than this and Tony couldn’t hide the pride in his voice as he asked innocently, “My kid messed you up good didn’t he? Not used to 15 year olds calling you out, eh, Thunderbolt?”  
“He was out of place,” Ross said angrily.  
“No he wasn’t,” Tony said plainly. “He called your bluff and you’re afraid to show your cards.”  
There’s silence on the other end and Tony knows Ross is pissed.  
“Let’s just take second to applaud that analogy?” Tony says, patting himself on the back as he shuffled a few papers around, “That was one of my best ever. Do I get a medal-”  
“Tony,” Ross said angrily.  
“What?”  
“You know this ends with one of us losing. I wanted to compromise and there’s still a chance we can do that,” Ross urges.  
“Um, let me think...no,” Tony pointed out.  
“There’s always consequences. Collateral damage. We want to put a stop to that,” Ross said, as if that would persuade Tony immediately. Well, it didn’t.  
“You won’t be able to,” Tony shook his head, putting his chin in his arms on the table, “I thought it was, but I was wrong. You can’t save everyone. It’s inevitable. Our job is to make sure that we save as many people as possible. And to stop you idiots from screwing everything up,” he grumbles.  
“There’s always an upside to you all,” Ross said, as if it was a bad thing that they were optimistic, “When one door closes in your face, you immediately open another one.”  
“I just open the same door, since that’s how doors work,” Tony pointed out.  
“Is this a joke to you?” Ross shouted.  
“It’s…probably not?” Tony asked, “No? I don’t think so? Actually, Ross, it is.”  
Tony changes his tone, “I find it hilarious that you and the government are flipping out that we’re on our own now. We’re superheroes Ross. We help people. We save the world. You want to put that on a piece of paper but you can’t. Yet somehow, you managed to. And you screwed up. So did I. I fixed my mistake, but you…” Tony shook his head, “You’re convinced you can win but you’re misunderstanding this Ross. There’s no winner and no loser and you know why?” Tony asked.  
“Because it’s not a fight Ross. We fight for you not against you, but if you want to get in our way of saving the world, we’ll go through you. So if you want to do that, I just have one thing to say to you: good luck.”  
Silence.  
“Ok, well, I’m a busy man and I have to go,” Tony said. “Good talk.”  
“Stark wait-”  
“Oh no, we’re breaking up. I- hear- me- Ross-” Tony stuttered, making static noises before dramatically pushing the End Call button and slumping in his chair.  
Tony’s head was spinning and he rubbed his eyes again, pushing his palms against his temples and letting out a big breath. He had a migraine and his stomach hurt from not eating, but he could barely feel the pain, it was more of a dull ache.  
Tony missed sleeping.  
He missed Pepper.  
He missed his friends.  
He missed not worrying about everything.  
He missed what it felt like to not be stressed and exhausted and on edge.  
But most importantly, he missed his son.  
He missed Peter. 

The next day, Peter was walking to school when he heard sirens interrupting “Dancing in the Moonlight”. He looked up and took out an earbud and listened. There were at least 7 sirens going off and Peter checked his watch. He had time, right? Who cares. Someone needed help.  
Peter turned on his heel and bolted into the nearest alley, reaching deep into his backpack to grab his suit. Peter yanked off his sweater and quickly changed into his suit. Peter took a second to decide whether to leave his backpack here or take it with him. He made up his mind and settled on throwing it up and webbing it to the building’s wall. Then Peter ran out of the alleyway and swung himself across the seat, hopping on top of cars and flinging himself forward. He dropped to the ground and hurried to the side. Screaming people ran past him. Police had set up a blockade that Peter had just swung over. He figured there was one on the other side too. Whatever they were cornering was somewhere between here and the end of the street.  
“Karen what’s going on?” he asked, trying to see over the crowd that was swarming around him.  
“I’m not sure. There’s someone on some sort of hoverboard. Get closer! But stay to the side until I can get a full reading. Be careful Peter.”  
Peter obeyed Karen’s command and stuck to the edge of the building, just dropping down to help a young woman to her feet. Peter returned to the side and climbed up a little higher so he could see.  
“Talk to me Karen, who the heck is that?” Peter was referring to a guy in a green metal suit, with a pointy head, crouched on a scary looking glider that was shooting back at the cops that were firing at him. Their bullets were just bouncing off his armor, like Tony’s metal.  
“I have no idea. He’s got a hovering glider capable of acceleration, firearms and explosives. His suit is jamming my signal so I can’t get facial recognition.”  
Peter webbed a bystander and yanked him out of the way of the goblin guy’s line of fire. Peter dropped to the ground again and assessed the situation, his head spinning. What the actual heck was going on?  
A section of people had been cornered by a blasted building. Peter needed to get them to safety. He doubted he could get them all out without being noticed, but maybe the cops could, if he distracted the green guy. Peter swung himself over to what looked to be the Sheriff.  
“Sir! I need you to get those people out of here,” Peter said urgently.  
The man looked a little shocked that Spiderman was talking to him.  
“And why the heck do I listen to the friendly neighborhood Spiderman?” the man said.  
Peter couldn’t blame him. He stopped ATM robberies and bike thefts, no one really new about the Vulture. They didn’t know what he could do. Luckily, the goblin chose that moment to hurl a bomb at them and Peter shot a web at it and flung it in the sky. It exploded in a fireball and pieces of web rained down. Peter broke off the side mirror of the cop car and webbed it, swinging it around like a slingshot before letting it fly right at the goblin. It hit him in the face, making him falter and dip in his hoverboard, which was more damage than any of them had done.  
The man looked at him for a second, a little shocked. He took a few shots at the man on the glider before he nodded at Peter, “We’ll do what we can. But there’s no way it’s possible without getting shot. He’s focused on them.”  
More shots rang out and Peter shielded him, pushing him and two other deputies behind the police cruiser.  
“I can fix that,” Peter promised, swinging himself into the sky. “Just help them!”  
Peter took a breath and yelled, “Hey, greenie!” He smacked the man right in the chest and the glider went spinning. Peter landed on the ground on one knee and tensed, his senses dialed to 11. He saw the cops rushing to get the people who were trapped in the middle of the barricades out of the corner of his eye. Shots rang out from the glider that had righted itself and Peter dodged them, doing a flip and spiraling forward. He went in for another kick but was predicted and he went flying as a metal fist hit him straight in the chest. Peter smashed into a windshield of a cop car, groaning.  
“Sorry about your car,” Peter said weakly as he got into a crouch on the hood. The cop behind him nodded, his eyes wide. Peter jumped off the hood, ignoring the pain in his back and swung himself forward, shooting a web at the green guy’s face, blinding him.  
Peter webbed his glider to the ground and started to more shoot webs, avoiding shots that whizzed past him.  
“So what do I call you? Greenie? Goblin guy? Green Goblin? Oooo, that sounds cool,” Peter decided. Peter’s spider senses tingled and he instinctively moved out of the way as 2 knives shot out of the side, barely missing him. The knives cut his webs, freeing the glider instantly. Peter’s heart falls as he watches them all fall to the ground.  
“Well you’re no fun,” Peter grumbled, shooting two more cross webs, and flinging himself forward. He got in a kick to the groin and a direct punch to the Goblin’s chest. Peter ducked an enraged swipe, hearing a low yell of anger from his enemy. Peter turned and then dropped to the ground because the sharp knife came right for his head.  
“Well you aren’t friendly at all, are you?” Peter rolled to the side and sprang to his feet.  
“You talk too much,” the goblin snarled, turning his glider and taking aim at the people running for cover.  
“No!” Peter yelled, jumping in front and shooting a web grenade at the glider’s gun. A bang came from the machine and Peter felt the glider jolt, webs flying everywhere, but he knew the blast had been stopped which was good. Peter shot a web and the goblin somehow took advantage of it and pulled, yanking Peter forward. He stumbled stumbled into the glider and tried to push it down with one foot. Peter realized he was now halfway onto the base and he was forced to step all the way on it as it lifted off the ground. Peter now wrestled the goblin hand to hand, gripping the wrists that were trying to punch him, his feet slipping off the sides. He kneed the Goblin in the gut and punched him across the face. The gilder tipped as it’s one thruster sputtered out and Peter lurched backward, his stomach dropping as he fell. Thankfully he was caught, but unfortunately it was by the throat and Peter wished he had fallen instead.  
“Impressive,” the Goblin cackled, “but not enough.”  
Peter choked, being held in mid air and he kicked his legs, desperately needing air. He shot a web right at the Goblin’s mask and one of the hands dropped from his neck, giving Peter the oxygen he needed. He managed to put one foot on the glider and yanked the other hand off his throat. Peter ducked a punch, grasping that wrist and trying to grab the other one, but then the green helmet comes forward, smacking right into Peter’s forehead. He let out a cry, falling backward, and this time, nothing caught him. Pain exploded through Peter’s head, almost knocking him out and he struggled to stay conscious before he realized, crap, he was falling. The Goblin didn’t help stop his fall, in fact he just kicked him down, right in the chest and Peter fell 15 feet before he slammed into the hard road. Ow, ow, ow, ow...it’s always the ribs. Why is it always the ribs? Peter groaned and tried to get to his feet but now, suddenly, the glider was on top of his chest, crushing him harder into the pavement. Peter groaned, gripping the sides and pushing up as hard as he could. The eyes behind yellow lenses bore down on him and Peter’s arms and whole body started shaking. He cried out again, his legs kicking underneath as the glider lowered even more. The cops were doing all they could, but they’re shots did nothing and they didn’t want to risk hitting Spiderman. Peter heard Karen in his mask, but he didn’t know what she was saying. His chest was being crushed, and the Goblin just peered down at him laughing. Peter’s arms were about to give out- the only thing that's keeping him conscious and possibly alive.  
“Hey!”  
The Goblin’s glare left him and Pete  
r looked up, half hoping it was Tony. He didn’t see anything from the angle he was looking at. Besides, the voice was way too young to be Tony. Then he lowered his gaze and his heart stopped.  
A little kid stood glaring at the Goblin that was crushing Peter, his gaze fierce and his eyes narrowed. He had broken away from the barricade and had run to the center of the street. The firing had long stopped. The kid stood firmly, his blonde hair, blue eyes, and freckles- oh no. Peter’s heart stopped again, even though it already had once. Peter recognized the kid.  
Brady.  
“Brady no!” Peter groaned, straining under the weight of the glider, “Get out of here kid-”  
Peter coughed, his arms trembling. He arched his back, shoving his head against the ground in an attempt for air, for freedom, for release from the thing that was crushing his chest and keeping him captive against the hard pavement. Peter cried out in pain again, raising his gaze. He looked and saw the sputtering left thruster on the green machine- close enough Peter could shoot a web if he let go of the sides he was pushing up on. Peter looked back where Brady had been, hoping the kid had done what Peter had told him and gotten out of there while he still could.  
The kid hadn’t listened; his gaze didn’t leave the Goblin. Instead, he had something in his hand and he put it on over his face.  
“Oooo scary,” the Goblin taunted.  
It was a mask. It was Peter’s Spiderman mask. It looked like the same one he had given to Peter. Brady must have had his mom make him a new one. Oh God, his mom was there, being held back by police, screaming and sobbing. Peter realized that Brady was standing up for him alone. It was just Peter, the kid and the Green Goblin between the 2 barricades. In that moment, Peter’s heart broke, not because of the weight, but because he wasn’t Brady’s hero. He was crushed into the ground by a green glider, and he couldn’t protect Brady, or stop the Goblin from doing anything to that innocent kid.  
“He’s just a kid,” Peter groaned, trying to reason with the Goblin. “He’s just a kid!”  
“Let him go,” Brady demanded, his voice muffled from his mask, “I’ll fight you!”  
The Green Goblin simply laughed. Peter got angry. He yelled in pain, winced, and braced himself, shoving up as hard as he could on the sides of the glider, before he let his arms drop from underneath. The glider came crashing down onto Peter’s chest without his arms to hold it back- but not before he put his two fingers to his palm. A web caught the side thruster and was sucked in. Peter didn’t let up..  
“Taser web!” he coughed, as the wind was knocked out of him. Pain flared through his chest as the glider made contact.  
Karen didn’t hesitate. Electricity zapped and the thruster exploded, jerking the machine. The glider was shot backwards a little bit as the thruster coughed out flames and sparks. The Goblin struggled to gain control; it was dipping in air as Peter gasped for breath, holding his aching chest, limp on his side.  
“The itsy bitsy spider,” the goblin snarled angrily, successfully leveling out the tilt and diving for Peter again.  
Then THUNK.  
A rock hit the Goblin on the side of the head. It bounced off, but it was enough to get him angry and he turned, glaring at the kid who had another chunk of concrete in his hand. Peter took his opportunity and kicked the glider as hard as he could, knocking the Green Goblin off it. It spun out of sight, and the man slowly got to his feet. Peter got to his feet and surged forward, kicking him in the chest. Greenie stumbled back a bit but then the glider was suddenly back, quicker than Peter anticipated and this time he didn’t lunge out of the way. It came in hard and fast, hitting Peter across the side and tossing him across the street. Peter hit the ground hard and rolled, smacking against the nearest building. He had no energy or strength to get up, but nevertheless, Peter scrambled to his knees and then to his feet, knowing that Brady was facing that guy alone. Peter took a breath, ignored in the searing pain in his chest, and shot himself forward as hard as he could with his double web. He spiraled in the air, landing in front of Brady. His hand instinctively shot up, his spider senses tingling. Good thing to, because Peter caught the Green Goblin’s fist that had come so close to hitting Brady.  
“I don’t think so,” Peter snarled. He pushed the metal fist back and let out a yell, bringing his knees up to his chest and jumping. Hs feet hit the goblin straight in the chest, and this time, he had enough force behind it. The man went flying, and he crashed into the ground, slow to get up. Peter landed flawlessly on one knee before he stood, turning to Brady who was still standing behind him. People were clapping and shouting, but Peter knew this wasn’t over. Right now though, he didn’t care about anyone but the brave little kid with blonde hair and blue eyes that was standing protectively behind him.  
“Brady! Kid, you ok?” Peter asked, kneeling and gripping Brady’s shoulders.  
“Yeah, yeah. I’m ok,” Brady assured him, taking off the mask to reveal his grin, his blue eyes gleaming.  
“Thanks for filling in for me kid,” Peter said, ruffling the kid’s hair, “I owe you one. You were really brave.”  
Brady nodded happily, but his eyes flicked over Peter’s shoulder nervously.  
“I know,” Peter sighed, glancing behind him, “I’ve got to finish off this idiot. But you get out of here ok?” Peter said. A cop was already coming to grab the kid and Peter pointed him out to Brady who nodded but turned back to him again.  
“Are you going to be ok?” Brady asked sincerely, looking Peter right in the eyes.  
“Yeah kid, I’ll be fine. Now get out of here Spiderman,” Peter gave Brady a high five and gently pushed the kid into the arms of the waiting cop.  
“Yeah Spiderman,” people screamed, clapping, as Brady was rushed back into the arms of his mother who was crying and hugging him.  
Brady hugged her, but he looked back at Peter and held out his arm, holding two fingers to his palm and grinning. Brady nodded, his gaze full of admiration and pride.  
Peter gave him a thumbs up before stretching out his arms and cracking his knuckles.  
“Karen, talk to me. How do I take this guy out?”  
“I would suggest taking out his glider first. You can easily beat him one on one,” Karen said.  
“But Peter you’re hurt though-”  
“I’m fine,” Peter said hurriedly, “Just tell me where the main power source is.”  
“Underneath it,” Karen reported.  
Peter sighed, “Of course it is. Ok, time to get to work.” Peter straightened, looking across the street where the Goblin was up, and not happy.  
“Back for more greenie?” Peter called.  
Just then his spidey sense tingles and he hears Brady scream, “Watch out!”  
Peter instinctively flipped, the glider passing underneath him, a huge knife on the end of it that would have stabbed Peter right through.  
A little shaken up, Peter was determined not to show it.  
He landed and shouted, “You brought a knife? Not fair!”  
He webbed the glider was was still flying and let it pick him off his feet, and yank him forward. Peter timed it just right, letting go when he was in a direct path of the Goblin and letting his momentum do the work. He kicked the Goblin in the chest and ducked a swipe, elbowing the Goblin across the face and then flipping behind him and kicking him in the back. Peter jumped away from the glider again and then it circled around. Peter tensed, thinking it was coming for him again but instead it changed paths and the goblin hopped on.  
Perfect. Just what Peter wanted. A crazy stupid plan made its way into Peter’s head that might actually work.  
“What does the power source look like Karen?” Peter asked, rolling under the glider that swooped down.  
“You can’t miss it. Circular, right in the center,” Karen reported.  
“I can work with that,” Peter said. It was a dumb plan, but he didn’t have any better ideas. Peter let the next pass through of the glider actually hit him. He made a grasp for the sides but missed, falling to the ground. It didn’t help that the Goblin kicked him across the face to get him off, which disoriented him a bit. Peter got to his feet again, only for the knife to come streaking forward and Peter dodged, shooting a web at it and yanking it off the glider. He never let the blade fall, gripping the web attached to it and flinging it upward. The knife swung around and sunk between a chunk of the Goblin’s armor.  
“Oops,” Peter yelped. He dodged the enraged throw of the knife the goblin had yanked out.  
“Let’s try this again,” Peter muttered. For the second time he let the glider smack into him, but this time Peter held on. The Goblin saw he was on the bottom and took him higher, knowing Peter’s fingers were slipping. Peter reached under the glider and found the engine. The Goblin cackled, ready to drop super fast and crush him. Peter gripped the only handhold he found.  
“I hope this is it,” he whispered to himself and then he pulled with all of his might. He felt it loosen and then fall into his hand. A huge piece of machinery was lying in his tight fist, sparking with ripped wires.  
Peter peeked up from the side of the glider that was smoking now, “Hey, buddy, I think you lost something!”  
Peter dropped to the ground, rolling to soften his fall, and got to his feet as the Goblin searched for him. He held up the core in his hand, “this looks important.”  
The glider was smoking and the Goblin sped away before it could fall, cop cars driving after him and the trail of smoke.  
“This isn’t over, Spiderman,” he yelled.  
Peter saw him disappear behind the building and he let out a sigh, “Am I dead, Karen?”  
“Not yet Peter,” Karen said.  
“Good,” Peter dropped the engine. Everyone around him, the cops, the bystanders, everyone- was applauding him. Peter turned, looking around, and had to admit, it felt good. He shook hands with the Sheriff and then jogged over to Brady who came barreling at him. The kid hugged him around the waist and Peter grinned and ruffled his hair, getting to his knee.  
“I knew you could do it,” Brady grinned happily.  
“Thanks kid,” Peter said, giving him a fist bump before he pointed out, “hey, you saved me.”  
He looked up at the mom who was standing behind her son, “You’ve one heck of a kid, ma’am.” Peter stood, winking at Brady who was smiling, before he shot a web at the nearest building and jumped, swinging past all the watching people and out of sight around the corner.

When you have a couple broken ribs and a bloody face, you don’t really feel like going to school. So Peter didn’t; he didn’t even take off his suit. In fact, he grabbed his backpack, got a taxi, (that was fun), and went to the compound. He didn’t even have to pay the driver, he was just asked take a picture and sign an autograph. Peter got out of the car and swung himself toward the compound. He knew he had a broken and bleeding nose of some sort, and definitely a black eye. He was bleeding from a few cuts from some of the metal fists that caught him in the jaw and cheekbone too. Peter held his side from the ribs he had broken as he walked slowly to the door, limping because of the pain in his back and a twisted ankle. He swiped his key and walked in, dragging himself up the stairs. Peter was still in his suit and he didn’t bother to take his mask off either. He heard Tony on the phone in the conference room and he peeked in, staggering to lean against the door.  
Tony glanced up, giving a weak smile before he looked down again, “Hey Pete, just let me fin-” Tony did a double take, his tired voice becoming firm and he spoke into the phone, “I’ll call you back.”  
He hung up the phone, immediately grilling Peter with questions.  
“Why are you here? What day is it? Why aren’t you at school? Why are you in your suit? What’s going on?” Tony asked, getting up from his chair and walking over.  
“Stuff happened,” Peter grumbled, limpng out of the room and towards the kitchen. All of a sudden he didn’t feel like talking to Tony about it. Peter felt that their relationship was strained at the moment and he didn’t think that Tony would understand. So he left it at that and started to walk down the hall. Tony ran to follow him and stopped him in the hallway, getting in front of him.  
“Talk to me, kid,” Tony said.  
Peter couldn’t help it. He laughed, “Talk to you? Oh so I can talk to you now?”  
“Peter,” Tony said firmly, “you know I’ve been really busy. I’m sorry, but I can’t-”  
“I know you can’t. I know,” Peter said, trying to push past him, “That’s why it’s no big-”  
Tony put his arm out to stop him from talking past. As he did, his arm brushed against Peter’s ribs and he recoiled with a stifled cry of pain, grasping his bruised chest.  
Tony noticed. Of course he noticed.  
Peter tries to shove past him again and Tony lets him this time. Peter, at first, thinks he’s won, but he’s wrong. Peter knows Tony’s going to say something.  
Don’t say anything Tony, Peter pleads as he takes his first few steps. Don’t. Don’t.  
Tony says, “Peter.”  
He knows Peter will stop, and Peter does against his will. He can’t help it.  
Without turning around, Peter says, “What?”  
“Take off your mask,” Tony said.  
“No,” Peter said stubbornly.  
Peter pictured Tony with his arms crossed, frowning, raising his eyebrows, disappointed, but knowing all to well that he’d break Peter eventually. Peter turns around slowly and sure enough Tony’s there, arms crossed, frowning, his eyebrows raised: just as Peter predicted.  
“And why not?” Tony asked, deciding to play along, in a rather mocking way that made Peter slightly ticked off.  
“Because I like talking to Karen,” Peter improvised, wincing under the mask at his excuse.  
“Yeah, nice try,” Tony says, smirking slightly, “no offense Karen.”  
“No offense taken,” Karen assures him from within Peter’s mask.  
Tony repeats his words, “Peter, take off the mask. Now.”  
“Why?” Peter grumbles.  
“Because I said so,” Tony said firmly. He had that look in his tired eyes, his mouth in a tight line, the eyebrow raised, almost daring Peter to say no. Dang it.  
Peter sighed and slowly reached up behind his head, grabbing the mask in his fist and slowly pulling it off. He winces and slowly raises his gaze, daring to meet Tony’s wide eyes.  
“Who? Why? What happened?” Tony asks, immediately walking over, “Peter…”  
“Don’t you watch the news?” Peter says.  
“I haven’t gotten a chance…” Tony trails off, cupping Peter’s cheek and turning it to look at a cut on his forehead, “God, Pete…”  
“I’m fine,” Peter says weakly. He gently pushes Tony’s hand down, but he bites his lip. Does he really look that bad?  
Yep, he looks bad. Tony took him to the kitchen to clean off the blood after showing him the damage the Goblin had done in the mirror. Peter sighs and sinks down on the cough with an ice pack. Tony turns on the TV and sure enough there’s footage on the first news channel he turns to of Peter fighting the goblin and talking with Brady afterward. Peter watches Tony’s eyes and expressions, trying to read him and figure out what he thought of the whole thing. Peter saw himself get kicked across the chest and smashed into the cop car. Tony’s hand that was limp on the couch suddenly tenses, tightening the fabric in his fist, as if he himself had been hurt. Peter changes the channel and the next one is slightly better and not as violent. Footage has ended with him giving Brady a fist bump and then jumping in the air, shooting a web, and swinging down the street.  
“The suspect, nicknamed the Green Goblin, did escape. He has not had any known appearances since this incident. Today there were no casualties and minimal damage thanks to Spiderman. If the Goblin does plan on returning, let’s hope Queens’ friendly neighborhood Spiderman will be there to save the day.”  
The newsperson smiled and shuffled her papers. It switched to commercial and Peter turned off the TV and looks at Tony from behind the ice pack.  
“Kid, you should have told me-” Tony starts to say, releasing his tight grip on the couch.  
Peter shakes his head, taking off the ice pack from his eye.  
“Told you? I tell you to eat and you don’t listen! I tell you to go to bed and you don’t listen! I tell you to stop being so hard on yourself and you don’t listen! I tell you to stop pushing yourself and you don’t listen! I tell you a lot of things, and you don’t listen,” Peter said, getting up from the couch and wincing at his healing ribs.  
“Kid, I know I haven’t been around that much these past weeks and I’m sorry, but someone else could have handled this,” Tony said angrily.  
“Who,” Peter shot back, “you?”  
Tony stuttered on his next words before he sighed, “No.”  
“Exactly,” Peter said, “so I was the only one who could do something. So, I did something. And I got a little hurt, big deal.” Peter raised his voice, “But don’t try and parent me now, especially when I do something good, because you haven’t been around for the past few weeks. I can take care of myself Tony.”  
“I know you can, kid,” Tony said, a little shocked at what he had just said and frankly, so was Peter.  
“I’m going home,” Peter said, getting up angrily and storming away. He grabbed his backpack and headed for the steps. Tony didn’t call him back or anything; Peter didn’t even think he moved from his spot. He refused to look behind him as he descended down the stairs, ignoring the searing pain in his chest. Peter knew that pain wasn’t only from the hurt ribs.  
But Peter wasn’t the only one in pain. He didn’t realize how much those words had hurt.  
Tony had thought this was his home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As much as I love the lines in this one, I still hate when they fight :/  
> Poor Tony...and poor Peter! Some really intense stuff is coming up...so stay tuned! Chap 18 coming tmrw! Comment your thoughts and thank you all so much for reading!


	18. Put him on the phone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yay! New chapter! Sorry I missed yesterday I was super busy :( Thank you all for understanding, I'm so glad you all are excited to read.  
> This one though...I promise it's worth it, it's so worth :) I won't spoil anything I'll just let you all read.  
> The ending though....shoot I won't say anything XD  
> Enjoy! Second update will be later today!

Peter changed back into his normal clothes in the alleyway and shoved his suit in his bag before he trudged home. As he walked, it dawned on Peter that he might have hurt Tony with his words, but he knew Mr. Stark would never show it. Peter kicked a trash can in anger at the entrance of his apartment building, walked up the stairs, unlocked the door to his apartment, and dragged himself inside, plopping down on the couch. He sighed and dug out his phone. There were 17 texts from May he had missed and the latest one said she was coming home. Peter texted her back to let her know he was ok and then threw his phone across the room, wincing as it thumped against the carpet. He sat there for a bit and then finally yelled in frustration, his voice ringing in the apartment. Peter got up and grabbed his phone and earbuds.  
“Oooo child, things are gonna get easier. Ooooo child things’ll get brighter...”  
Peter closed his eyes, ignoring the throbbing pain. Peter rubbed his eyes with his fist. What was he doing?  
“Someday, yeah, we'll get it together and we'll get it all done. Someday, when your head is much lighter…”  
Then May came in, scanning the room and her eyes found Peter on the couch.  
“Are you ok? Are you ok? I saw the footage…”  
May was out of breath and she hugged him, asking him if he was ok over and over, looking at his bruised face. Peter didn’t tell her about the ribs and bit his lip as he hugged her back. He finally pulled away and mumbled that he needed to rest so he’d be in his room. She made him eat and drink some water first before she handed him an ice pack and cleaned up some of his cuts. Then she let him go lie down.  
He promised her that he was fine. Lie.  
He was just tired, that’s all. Lie.  
Peter closed the door and let out another silent scream, punching the air. Too many emotions were smacking around in his head, too many that Peter couldn’t pick one. He didn’t know how to feel. He missed Tony. Peter sank onto his bed, rubbed his forehead, and turned up his music, taking a deep breath. He couldn’t help but feel bad that he said that stuff. What did he even say? Whatever it was, Peter knew it hurt a lot more than Tony showed, because Tony would never show those types of things to Peter. Emotions like sadness or hurt didn’t show on Tony’s face- Peter remembered it: firm and straight, his eyes gazing at Peter. The gaze was not emotionless, but it didn’t give away any one emotion. He was cool, calm, collected, and professional, hiding whatever Peter had done to him deep down. That made Peter hurt. It hurt more than the pain in his ribs. Peter stopped another nose bleed with a tissue and then slowly lifted up his shirt, scared of how bad it was. Yikes. It was bad, Peter thought, wincing at the redness and the slowly fading bruises.  
Peter sank down onto his bed again. His music was full blast but he could barely hear Mr. Blue Sky over the pounding in his head.  
Peter knew he was stubborn. He knew he could do things himself. He also knew that Tony was usually right, but not this time. Even if he was right, Peter remembered what he had said to the news reporter and he meant it. He wouldn’t sit around waiting for innocent people to get hurt. He had told Tony that the reason he did it, the reason he was Spiderman.  
The reason (as Tony had put it) that gets him out of his twin bed in the morning is that when he has these powers and has the ability to do something, but doesn’t, and then the bad things happen, they happen because of him. Peter doesn’t want or need that on his conscience. So he needed to do something. Whether or not he should or shouldn’t have said that stuff to Tony, (his heart is beating him up but his coincidence is stubborn), Peter was a grown kid.  
He could take care of himself.  
He could also go after the Goblin by himself.  
Peter didn’t feel like telling Tony, because he didn’t think he’d understand. Neither would May, or Ned, or Happy, or anyone else for that matter.  
So Peter would do it alone. 

Peter went back to school the next day, his cuts and bruises healed for the most part. Peter sat down next to Ned in class and sighed, pulling out his binder. He did his handshake with Ned who scooted closer and whispered, “Dude, are you ok?”  
“Yeah...yeah, I’m ok,” Peter said.  
“You almost died,” Ned hissed.  
“Yeah, I know, Ned,” Peter sighed, trying to listen to the teacher.  
Ned shook his head, getting out his homework, “He kicked you and you went flying and then the glider and the-”  
“Ned, shut up,” Peter hissed.  
“Sorry,” Ned winced, “I just...where did you put that core? Do you still have it? And who is that guy? I haven’t seen him before, do you think it could be a HYDRA guy or maybe-”  
“I don’t know, Ned, shut up,” Peter whispered harshly.  
Ned continued to ask him questions for the rest of the block, and the rest of the day. Peter answered every one of them the same, “I don’t know.”  
He was tired of not knowing. He was tired of being Peter Parker.  
“Someone’s grumpy,” Michelle raised an eyebrow at lunch. Peter kept forgetting that she didn’t know his secret identity.  
“Yeah,” Peter sighed, putting his head in his arms before his head shot up again. “Crap, I have a Spanish quiz next block.” He started pulling out books to study.  
MJ laughed and took a bite of her sandwich, smirking, “Ha, loser.”  
Peter shot her a look, putting his head in his hands as he leaned over his Spanish book, trying to memorize the vocab words in the last 15 minutes of lunch.  
“Hey, Peter’s going through a lot, you know, with the Stark Internship and everything,” Ned said helpfully.  
Peter nodded, “Yeah well actually, we’re kinda not...good right now, which kind of makes things worse. He’s busy and...yeah,” Peter ran out of things to say. He didn’t know what to say.  
Ned understood more than Michelle did.  
“Oh and Peter, it’s short answer as well,” Ned offered.  
Peter groaned again, looking at the clock. 3 and a half hours left. The bell could not come fast enough. Peter ended up throwing the rest of his lunch away because he never ate.

An hour later Peter threw his pencil down, sighing. He’s sure he did ok on his Spanish quiz; he had a 96 in that class so it didn’t really matter.  
An hour and a half.  
Peter just wanted the day to end, and eventually it did.  
1 minute left.  
In last block, Peter’s foot tapped against the floor, faster, faster, waiting for the bell. He just wanted to get out of the school- get out of Peter Parker’s boring life full of homework and Spanish quizzes.  
The bell released him and Peter practically sprinted out of the school, breathing in fresh air and making sure no one was around before he jumped over the high gates at the main entrance.  
Peter needed to get into his suit. He needed to be someone other than himself. He needed to be Spiderman. He sprinted to the alleyway, skipping his normal stop to Delmars and changed quickly. He threw his backpack onto the wall, webbed it there and then jumped to the top of the building. Peter needed to run.  
So he ran, jumping from building to building, swinging as fast as he could before he finally collapsed on the other end of the city on a rooftop, and the sun was almost down. Peter took off his mask and ran his hands through his hair, sinking to the ground on a roof, breathing hard. His head was spinning. He pulled out his phone. There was a message from Tony.  
Kid, we need to talk.  
Peter scrunched up his nose and rubbed his head again. He saw the contact picture for Tony, he and Mr. Stark at the awards ceremony, both of them smiling wide, unbelievably happy. Peter couldn’t help but grin a little. He clicked into Tony’s contact and almost hit the call button.  
Almost.  
Then he clicked out of it and texted May instead.

Tony rubbed his head again, a gesture of his that he had been doing a lot of lately.  
“Can I talk to someone else please?” Tony asked Ross, “You know usually when a customer isn’t satisfied with their customer service rep, the employee lets them speak to a manager.”  
“I am the manager,” Ross pointed out.  
Tony sighed, “Crap. Well that sucks. I want your boss then.”  
“The president of the United States,” Ross said cockily.  
“Great, I’ll give him a call,” Tony said. “Bye.”  
Ross knew he wouldn’t hang up just yet, “If you have a grievance, talk to me.”  
“What if I don’t want to?”  
Ross spoke through gritted teeth, “I’m tired of your attitude, Stark.”  
“I’m tired of a lot of things, mostly you,” Tony thought out loud.  
“Stark you are a cocky playboy with a lot of money and no comprehension of what you’re dealing with here,” Ross said angrily.  
“First off, it’s genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist,” Tony corrected. “Second, I suggest you apologize.”  
Tony ate a handful of dried blueberries and then he added, “With sprinkles on top or I won’t forgive you.”  
“You’re making a mistake,” Ross said.  
“That doesn’t sound like an apology,” Tony tisked.  
“I have nothing to apologize to you for,” Ross said snootily.  
“Uh huh, sure,” Tony said. “First off you have to apologize for not apologizing. Second, you’re ruining my relationship with my kid because I have to talk to you on the phone for 3 hours a day instead of actually get work done which means I’m not sleeping or eating Ross. You’re annoying the crap out of me, which is really hard to do, and I swear to God if you try and break up my superhero boy band again I’m gonna lose it.”  
Tony hung up before Ross said anything else. He pushed back in his chair and looked at his phone. His text message to Peter had sent, but the kid hadn’t texted back. Of course he didn’t text back, why would he?  
Before Tony could change his mind, he pushed the call button.  
The phone rang and Tony started to wonder if Peter would actually pick up. He would. Right?  
“Hi Tony.”  
Tony almost pumped his fists, “Hey Pete.”  
Silence.  
They both started talking at once.  
“How was school-”  
“How’s the accords-”  
They both stopped. Peter didn’t talk so Tony said again, “So how was school?”  
“Fine. I had a Spanish quiz,” Peter said plainly. Tony remembered when Peter would gush to him about every single block. He hoped it would be like that again.  
“How’s the accords?” Peter asked politely.  
Tony sighed, “I wish Ross would get run over by a truck.”  
Peter laughed on the other end and Tony had to smile. He hadn’t heard that laugh in a while.  
Then he bit his lip, “Listen, Pete, I’m sorry because I haven’t been there for these past weeks and I promise that when this is all over…” Tony didn’t know exactly what to say, so he said, “When it’s all over, I promise it will be back to normal. I know it’s not right now. And frankly kid, you’re the only thing keeping me sane right now, and you’re doing more than you know. So thanks.”  
There was one more thing that Tony needed to say, “And I know I’m busy, but come talk to me, if you need anything ok kid? I’ll drop everything, I promise. Because you’re so much more important than any of this. I’m so so sorry.”  
Silence.  
“Peter?” Tony asked, slightly afraid the kid hung up.  
“Yeah,” Peter said, and his tone had changed into a happier once, which flooded Tony with relief. Then Peter said, “Thanks Tony.”  
“I’m...I’m sorry Pete,” Tony said again, more sincerely.  
“I know. Me too,” Peter said. There was silence for a second before Peter suddenly asked, “So I’ll see you Friday?”  
His voice had an innocent sort of hopefulness in it and Tony breathed a sigh of relief and grinned.  
“Yeah kid. See you Friday,” Tony said, “and Pete?”  
“Yeah?” Peter asked.  
“Please, please, please, don’t do the thing I know you’re thinking of doing.”  
Peter didn’t answer.  
“I know you know what I’m talking about, and Peter, for the love of God, don’t do it,” Tony said firmly. He knew Peter was thinking of going after the Goblin by himself.  
“How do you know I’m gonna-” Peter protested weakly, but Tony knew he understood what he was getting at.  
“Just promise me you won’t Pete,” Tony pleaded, interrupting him.  
“Ok,” Peter said, a little annoyed, before he said, “I have to go dad- Tony.” The kid stuttered on his words before he said, “I should get home.”  
Tony had to grin and he smiled, “Alright kid.”  
“Bye Tony,” Peter said.  
“Bye Pete,” Tony said, hanging up, before he realized Peter had never actually promised him.

Peter got through another day of school and he ran to Delmars. He got his sandwich and ran to the alleyway to change. Peter swung through the streets of Queens, doing his usual run before he hopped on the top of the subway to check his phone. There was a live interview going on in his news app and Peter was surprised to see it was Brady who was being interviewed.  
“We get to hear from the brave young boy who stood up for Spiderman during the encounter with the new suspect nicknamed Green Goblin.”  
The news reporter held the microphone toward him and asked, “Brady, how old are you?”  
They were right by Queens Boulevard; Peter could see the street sign in the background. He should pay that kid a visit. Peter jumped off the top of the subway and swung, holding his phone in his hand as he swung with one arm.  
“I just turned 8 two weeks ago,” Brady said proudly.  
“And what have you got there?” The woman pointed to Brady’s clenched fist that held a red and blue Spiderman mask.  
Brady held it up for the camera, “It’s my mask. He’s my favorite superhero.”  
“I think that goes for all young boys,” the woman smiled, “Can you put it on?”  
“Sure,” Brady said happily, pulling the mask over his face, his blue eyes shining through the eye holes. Peter grinned, turning right and swinging down the next street.  
“And I heard he talked to you and your mom afterward. What did he say?” The woman asked Brady.  
“He said good job and said thanks because I stuck up for him,” Brady said, pulling up his mask a little so his voice isn’t muffled.  
“Were you scared?” The woman asked.  
“No. Because he was there,” Brady said confidently.  
“I see. So are you a big talk of the school now?” The news reporter asked.  
“Yeah. All my friends are jealous,” Brady grinned.  
“I bet. Not everybody gets to meet their hero,” the woman laughed.  
And then Peter dropped in behind Brady, “Hey, Spiderman.”  
The news reporter looks shocked. People have started to gather around, pointing and grinning. Brady turns around and takes off his mask, “Hi!”  
Spiderman gives him a fist bump. Brady’s absolutely ecstatic.  
“I saw you on the live stream and I was in the area,” Peter said, shrugging. He put a hand on Brady’s shoulder, “He’s a brave kid.”  
Brady grinned ear to ear, giving his mom a look like oh my gosh!  
She gives him a thumbs up and smiles at Peter.  
“Have you heard anything else about the Green Goblin?” The woman asks, pointing the microphone at Peter.  
“As for who he is or how he got his weapons, no. But I know his motives are not good, and I’m not going to sit around while he tries to hurt innocent people. Not everyone can be like this superhero here,” he ruffled Brady’s hair. He doesn’t want to answer anymore questions so he turns to the grinning, blonde haired, blue eyed boy next to him, “Hey I gotta run kid, you finish your interview,” he gives a grinning Brady another fist bump and winks.  
“Bye,” Brady says happily.  
Then Peter shoots a web at the building and swings himself down the street.  
When he makes it back to the alleyway about 2 hours later, Peter groans. His backpack is gone. Not thinking much about it, Peter turns and swings himself down the street, texting May that he needs another backpack. That’s 6 now. She’s not going to be happy. 

The Green Goblin holds a backpack in his hands. He’s hidden in the dark shadows, watching the still and quiet alleyway. Hatred has overtaken his heart. The friendly neighborhood Spider Man had humiliated him. The Green Goblin planned to strike him here and now, take him down when there was no little kid thrown into the equation. And he could have. He still could. But he had seen the alley where Spiderman had swung out of earlier that afternoon and he had gone there when the sun went down and waited, prepared to strike if Spiderman ever planned on returning. But then he had seen the backpack webbed to the wall and cut it down. There were school books and clothes inside but before he could think much about it, the Goblin backs up. He hears the webs before he sees his enemy and he quickly backs into the shadows. He crouches in the dark, waiting. The figure swings in, dropping to the floor, letting go of a web. The man, silhouetted in the lamplight, lands perfectly. He looks around for a minute, his first gaze was where the backpack had been. Spiderman looks around a little more and groans, before he shakes his head, pulls out his phone and jumps, shooting a web and swinging himself around the corner out of sight. The Green Goblin comes out of the shadows and jumps on his glider that returns to him. He leans forward a little into the sliver of moonlight so he can read the name scrawled on the strap.  
Peter Parker

Peter came in through the window the night before. He got a few hours of sleep and then woke up early to head to school, scribbling some of his homework out as he ate breakfast.  
“May I’m leaving!” He shouted, taking out an earbud to hear her response.  
“I love you, have a good day!”  
Peter closed the door and started walking. It was the same boring route: the subway ride, and walk, the trek through the football field etc. He crossed the street and Flash almost ran him over again, as Peter sprinted to the sidewalk.  
“Watch it Parker!” The bully yelled over his shoulder.  
Peter sighed and put an earbud back in, walking into the school and upstairs to his locker. Ned was already there and he waved as Peter jogged over.  
“Dude you were on TV!” Ned said excitedly.  
“I know Ned,” Peter grinned.  
“Why were you on TV?” Michelle asked, leaning against the locker suddenly.  
Peter jumps and shoots Ned a look before mumbling, “Stark...Internships...thing.”  
Michelle just shrugged, “Oh cool.”  
“Yeah,” Peter glares at Ned again who gives him a small apologetic smile. 

Peter was in 3rd block when his teacher came over and told him to go to the Principal's office. Peter knit his eyebrows.  
“I don’t know why,” his teacher shrugged, as if agreeing with Peter’s startled expression.  
“I’m sure you did nothing wrong Peter. Maybe your Aunt dropped off something for you?”  
“Maybe,” Peter said, as he got up from his seat, shrugging at Michelle who watched him leave as he walked out the door and down the hallway.  
Peter walked into the Principal's Office and called, “Sir-”  
There was no one in the office. Something didn’t feel right. Peter looked around, tense, his hands curled into fists. He reached for his backpack on his shoulder before realizing he had left it in the classroom. Shoot. If things went south, he didn’t have his suit. Peter looked around again, calling out, “Principal Morita?”  
Nothing. Then suddenly, it gets too quiet. His Spider senses tingle off the charts and Peter starts to turn around. He sees a flash of green before he can make the full turn and then he just feels pain as his feet lift off the ground and he’s thrown through the glass. Peter gets cut up as the glass windows shatter when his back hits it. He crashes through and hits the ground hard, tumbles, and slides to a stop on the ground, crying out in pain as bits and pieces of the window litter the ground around him, shattered into a million pieces. Peter looks up, dazed and covered in tiny shards of glass, his back stinging and his hands bleeding as they cover his head. He yelps and rolls to his left as the Principles chair comes crashing down where he had been laying. He slides in the glass, the movement only digging more pieces into his exposed skin. He quickly brushes shards from his face and neck, before shaking his head to get them out of his hair. Then he turns to face his enemy.  
“Hello Spiderman.”  
Peter knows those yellow eyes from the newspapers, from the footage, and from previous experience. The Green Goblin hits the chair down a second time and Peter rolls out of the way again. Peter was scared, not by the actual Goblin, but by the fact that he knew who Peter was. He knew who Peter was.  
“At first I was unsure. But I get it now. I admire your grit, Peter Parker,” the Goblin spits.  
Peter’s shaking; that’s the same thing Winston Toons had said to him. But more importantly, he knows him. How does he know him? In his state of shock, Peter doesn’t move fast enough and a metal foot of the chair catches his shoulder, sending him sprawling backward. Peter’s head hits the tile and he yells in pain trying to scramble to his feet- only to get kicked in the chest. Peter hits the ground again, coughing up a little blood. He wipes his mouth and gasps, shakily getting to his feet.  
“What’s wrong Spiderman?” The Goblin taunts, smacking Peter’s fist away as Peter tries to fight back. Peter blocks a punch and throws another one.  
The Goblin grabs his wrist, peering down at Peter from his glider, “No little kid to save you now?”  
He effortlessly tosses Peter aside, flipping him and this time Peter manages to stop himself from falling flat, landing on his feet and stumbling a bit before falling to the floor, exhausted. He needs his suit. He needs his suit now.  
Peter backs up against the wall and then his gaze shifts as he sees his principle run into the room, looking around. Students are screaming, and they rush in the room behind him. His principle sees his smashed office, and then the Goblin, and lastly Peter- cut up from the glass, holding his side with a bloody nose, backed up against the wall.  
“Sir, go!” Peter yells, before he gets choked by a metal hand. Peter clutches at the grip around his throat, kicking his legs. The principle pulls out his phone to call the police and starts herding the students away, back down the hallway to the other exit, shooting a look at Peter who nods as much as he can with a hand around his throat. The fire alarm goes off somehow and now the sprinklers are on. Water drips down Peter’s face as he chokes, trying to get air.  
Not everyone was out so Peter would risk possibly exposing his enhanced fighting skills but it was getting too hard to breathe; he can’t wait any longer to fight back.  
He flips up, kicking the Goblin in the chest and lands on one knee before getting to his feet and sliding under the Goblin’s legs. Peter scrambles to his feet and slips a bit because of the water before he gains traction. He takes a split second to make a decision to stay and fight, but Peter knows full well he can’t beat the Goblin like this. He needs his suit. Peter fakes a punch and then ducks under before bringing his heel back to strike the Goblin’s knee. When he’s down Peter pushes him and sprints out of the room, making his way back to the classroom, shoving through people that are trying to get out of the school. Peter hears the Goblin behind him, getting a little distracted with the students. Peter hated them leaving to fend for themselves, but he knew he could only do so much without his suit and Peter is pretty confident that the Goblin doesn’t want to hurt them because he’s too focused on hurting Peter.  
Peter breaks away from the running crowd and continues to sprint down the hallway. Then he heard an explosion and Peter ducked, diving into his classroom as the ceiling caved above him. The Goblin came crashing down, and Peter made eye contact with him as he sat up on his elbows on the ground with plaster falling down around him. The glider shoots forward and Peter grabs a desk, pulling himself up before he runs toward his seat to grab his backpack. He slides to the ground, grasps it and then dives for the supply closet. Peter made it, and slammed the door shut with his foot, just in time too, as he heard desks and chairs getting thrown at the door he had just shut. Peter turned on the light and locked the door, quickly changing into his suit.  
The Goblin knocked on the door, “Knock Knock Spiderman!”  
“Who’s there?” Peter called.  
“Come and out fight!”  
“Come out and fight who?” Peter asked, pushing the Spider in the center that sucked the suit around his form.  
“Hey Peter-” Karen says happily, then she stops as Peter cuts her off and she reads his vitals.  
“Karen call the police!” Peter kicked open the door and threw his shoes and backpack at the Goblin’s face, dazing him before he spiralled forward, shooting a web at the Goblin’s face and kicking the glider. Peter ran out of the classroom and swung down the hallway.  
“It’s Spiderman!” someone yelled.  
Peter webbed up the hallway behind him and the Goblin crashed into the webs, stuck there for a little while. Then the goblin started to cut through and Peter waved the kids forward.  
“Everybody listen up!” Peter screamed at the crowd of students trying to run down the hall, “You need to get out of here as quickly as possible. I would greatly appreciate it if you could move faster- hold on. Oh God.”  
Peter had to turn and flip as the Goblin broke through his web. He shot a web at the thruster on the glider and shoved him backwards so he wouldn’t crash into the kids.  
“Go! Go! Go-” Peter yelled. He was helping a kid off the ground, before he had to push him back down again; the Goblin crashed into him, picking him off the shocked kid. Peter struggled in the tight grip and the Goblin lost control. They both slammed through a wall and into another classroom.  
Peter got to his feet and shot a web, yanking the Goblin’s arm forward and ducking a punch. Peter launched test tubes at the goblin and mixed chemicals that weren’t supposed to mix, throwing them at the Goblin’s face. He slammed one into the ground and the chemical reaction exploded onto the Goblin’s mask. Peter shot himself forward, hitting the goblin in the chest before he swung upward and stuck to the wall. The Goblin got to his feet, angry, before Peter raised an arm to web him up before realized he was on his feet. If the goblin was standing, where is the glider-  
Peter turned too late as a cable latched onto his wrist, snapping around it and the glider yanked him forward. Peter got violently tossed into the tables as the cable released and he crashed through all of them, finally sliding to a stop under a pile of desks, staring up at gum.  
“Gross,” Peter wrinkled his nose before scrambling out. He didn’t have time to get his bearing before he was hit in the back and went flying, through the hole they had just made. Peter didn’t have enough force to go through the wall so he just smacked into it and slid to the ground, dazed and in a lot of pain.  
Peter shook the dizziness out of his head and had just enough time to fling himself away as the glider impaled the wall. Peter launched himself down the hallway, flailing in midair as his web missed and he fell, tumbling to stop in the middle of the running students. People stopped to help him, despite the fact that they were running for their lives.  
“I’m good,” Peter promised before he flipped, landing on his feet and helping all the students get further toward the main entrance. The Goblin came back again, this time with a ripped off locker door in his grasp.  
“Oh God,” Peter said again, flipping to avoid the sharp edge. It sliced through the lights on the ceiling, and sparks flew as Peter danced out of its way. The Goblin swung it again and Peter ducked and webbed it to the wall, forcing the Goblin to let go. Peter flipped up, sticking to the ceiling and getting a hard punch in before he dropped back down again.  
“You aren’t very nice, are you?” Peter asked.  
“I try my best,” The Goblin cackled back.  
Peter punched him in the face.  
“Spiderman!” Peter turned, searching for the voice. It was Ned.  
Peter waved his hands as he flipped backward, “Get out of here! Go!”  
Ned’s eyes widened and he ran out with Michelle and the rest of the class. Peter felt water dripping down his face beneath the mask. He was soaking wet from the sprinklers. Peter finally realized how loud the fire alarm was. He hadn’t heard the blaring until now and he forced himself to block it out again. The school was quiet and Peter hoped everyone had gotten out.  
“Peter,” Karen warned; he was getting distracted. Peter focussed on his enemy now, and jumped up, narrowly avoiding the glider that sliced the air underneath and then jumped again as it bounced off the wall and came back.  
“Ok, that thing does not obey the laws of physics,” Peter said. He shot a web at the top of the building and swung himself up, making the Goblin come to him.  
“Not the windows, not the windows-” Peter yelled as the Goblin crashed through almost all of them.  
“Come on, really?” Peter yelled.  
Peter jumped and flipped, avoiding the Goblin’s punches. He dropped from the ceiling and landed and when he looked up, the glider was nowhere in sight. The Goblin walked toward Peter who took a step back, his hands raised, ready to fire webs.  
“What do you want with me?” Peter yelled, looking left and right for the glider that has seemingly disappeared.  
“Stop getting in my way,” the Goblin shrugged, holding out his hands, “and we won’t have a problem.”  
“Your goal is to hurt innocent people. I will always get in your way,” Peter said determinedly. “And if it’s not me, someone else will.”  
“Well then I’ll have to teach you all a lesson,” the Goblin said, and Peter knew the same twisted metal smile was under the mask.  
“Peter above you-” Karen tried to say, but Peter looked up too late and the glider crashed down right onto his head, connecting with so much force Peter was knocked to the floor on his hands and knees. He tried to lift his head but found he couldn’t move, only try and stop his eyes from closing. He saw the Goblin walking toward him and Peter tried to get up, he tried so hard…  
But now his vision tunneling, and Peter let out a whimper of anger on his hands and knees as the Goblin crouched by his side. Peter swayed, his arms trembling as he tried to stay conscious and not sink to the floor. The Goblin gripped his chin and peered into his closing lenses, “Night night.”  
And that’s when everything went black and Peter sank to the ground.

Tony was finishing some paperwork when the phone rang.  
“This is Stark,” he said in his usual monotone, too tired to crack a joke.  
“Tony Stark…” the voice on the line said.  
“Yes?” Tony sighed.  
“I’ve always liked games Mr. Stark,” the voice said.  
Tony sighed and pushed the End Call button on his phone. The call ended, but the voice did not stop.  
“Do not hang up on me Stark,” the voice tisked, coming from the speakers in the room.  
“What is this?” Tony demanded, getting to his feet, “FRIDAY?”  
“He overridden my server,” FRIDAY reported. “He’s not doing any damage, just hacked into the speakers.”  
Even she sounded confused. Why would someone just hack speakers?  
“So we’re going to play a game, called hide and seek. Stark if you could please turn on the news, that would be great,”  
Just out of curiosity, Tony walked over to the TV, grabbed the remote and turned it on. It was already on the New Channel from when Peter had been over. The kid was coming over later today, and Tony didn’t have time for these prank calls. He needed to get work done so he could spend time with Peter.  
“Earlier today the Green Goblin attacked Queen’s Midtown School of Science and Technology.”  
Tony clenched his hand into his fist, his heart dropping deep down in his chest. That was Peter’s school. The News Reporter continued, “Luckily Spiderman was there to get the students out and fight the Goblin yet again.”  
That was Peter flipping and webbing the Goblin up, crashing through walls and blocking punches.  
“All camera footage was stopped as police arrived on the scene. The school was damaged, but no lives were lost and no one is severely injured. What everyone is wondering, is where is Spiderman? Some shaky camera footage shows the Green Goblin leaving the scene with what looks to be the hero with red and blue suit, unconscious as his captive-”  
That was Peter slumped in his arms.  
No. No, no, no, no.  
“Police are investigating as to who the Green Goblin is and where he is now, but more importantly, we all want to where the friendly neighborhood Spiderman is-”  
Tony’s heart stopped. He tried to steady his breathing and his hands were shaking in anger. “What did you do to him?” Tony said through gritted teeth. He was already recording the voice and trying to track his location, but his head was spinning as he tried to comprehend that this guy had Peter. He has his son.  
“Nothing yet,” The Goblin assured him, “Few bumps few bruises, few cuts, nothing major though. See Stark, this is where the game comes in. I hide. Or more accurately, we hide. And you seek. It’s as easy as that.”  
“I’ll find you. I’ll find you,” Tony said, his voice filled with anger, already running out of the labs. FRIDAY transferred the call to his suit which had already encased Tony as he flew down the hallway.  
“If you hurt him…” Tony threatened, flying out the loading deck since that was closest and into the open air.  
“Peter and I need to have a talk first, before I do any real damage,” the Goblin said.  
Tony realizes he called Peter by his name. Oh God, he took off the kid’s mask, he knows who he is...Tony was already sending Happy a message to get to May, but the main thought on his mind was-  
“I swear to God if you hurt him!” Tony yelled, “You lay a finger on that kid and you’re dead. Understand?” But deep down he knew the Goblin would do more than that and Tony was helpless to stop him.  
“Have to find me first,” The goblin said, “Good luck Stark.”  
“Put him on the phone!” Tony yelled desperately, trying to get a signal lock. The sun was almost down, and they could be on the move, they could be anywhere...  
“Put. Him. On. The. Phone,” Tony hissed, “I need to know you aren’t bluffing.”  
“Peter?” the Goblin said sweetly, not into the phone, “I think Iron Man wants to say hello.”  
“Pete!” Tony yells, knowing he can scream his name, his voice cracking as he balances in mid-air, way too out of sorts to fly at the moment. All he cared about was Peter.  
“Pete!” Tony yells again, “Talk to me kid!”  
“T..Tony?”  
Tony breathes a sigh of relief before he gets angry again, his heart breaking as he hears his kid’s voice. It’s broken, tired, in pain, scared...but it sounds like Peter.  
“Pete, I’m coming to get you. I’m coming, I promise,” Tony rambles, shooting across the sky, before he shouts, “God, just let him go!”  
The Goblin ignores him, “Goodbye Stark, say the magic words: Ready or not here I come?”  
“That could have been anyone,” Tony splutters, stalling as he flies across the city, trying to figure out what he can do. “How do I know you’re not lying? Let me talk to him!”  
“Fine. 15 seconds. Starting now,” The Goblin says gleefully.  
“Peter!” Tony yells in panic, “Peter listen to me. Finish the line Pete: I’ve got you kid,” Tony says breathlessly, waiting for a response, “I’ve always got you.”  
A shaky voice meets Tony’s ears, “I- I got you first.”  
And then the call ends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Big oof...  
> Thanks for reading! Comment your thoughts!


	19. Where. Is. He.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Second update as promised! Enjoy! It's a long one and full of action and angst and oofs and it's just a good chapter lol.  
> The goblin and Peter have a nice chat, we get the phone call from Peter's POV, and then from then on I don't want to give anything away. Stay tuned for tomorrow's update!  
> :) Thanks for reading!!!

Peter lifted his head with effort; it had been slumped to his chest. He was up against a pole in a dark room with one window towards the top of the high ceiling, the sun going down only made it darker. Peter steadied his breathing and bit back pain that was throbbing across his whole body. His eyes quickly adjusted in the dark but to his surprise his vision was still blurry.  
“He’s awake!” Peter’s head snapped up and he scanned the room. His gaze found the Goblin in the corner and when he saw Peter was awake he walked over, holding something in his hand. It was a phone, and the Goblin set it down on the floor next to him.  
“Hello Spiderman,” he said softly.  
Peter took a shaky breath and kept his gaze straight ahead, narrowing his black lenses. His mask was still on and Peter was glad for that.  
The Goblin let out a low sigh, “Peter, you should really look at someone when they’re talking to you.”  
Peter refused and after a quick second, the Goblin roughly turned his chin, forcing him to look directly at the mask with the twisted smile. Peter narrowed his eyes even more, fighting against the metal that gripped his skin. He jerked his hands that were tied behind them, twisting them in their restraints. They were somehow tied tightly to the pole. Peter made a sound of anger as the ropes refused to loosen.  
“You’re not going to get out of those. They’re extra strength fibers, and I injected you with an invention of my own. It won’t wear off for a while. Think of it as a partial paralysis. You have enhanced combat skills and heightened senses, and I’ve simple dialed them down to 1,” the Green Goblin laughed gleefully.  
Peter shoved his head up against the pole and closed his eyes, biting his lip.  
“I waited until you were awake to do this though. I never got a good view while you were at school.”  
Peter’s eyes snapped open at that and he shook his head violently, “No- no wait-”  
The Goblin grabbed his chin and held his head still as he reached behind Peter. Peter knew the Goblin had already seen him without the mask, but this was different. Peter was helpless to stop him, so vulnerable, and so weak. The Goblin could do anything he wanted. He could expose his secret identity; one picture was all it took. He could keep him here forever, where no one could fine him, or even hurt him... Tony's coming, Peter assured himself, Tony's looking for him right now. He had to be. Right? Peter tried to swallow his doubt but it was stopped by the lump in his throat. He shivered as he felt metal fingers slide up his neck as the goblin found the edge of his mask and slowly pulled it off. Peter made a sound of protest and tried to lunge forward or shake him off but there was nothing he could do. The mask came off and the Goblin held it in his hands, crouched in front of him. Peter flicked his hair out of the way, breathing hard, and glaring at the Goblin. Peter was scared without his mask, knowing the Goblin could see him now. Peter felt like he had lost something, maybe his confidence; he had never felt more exposed then he did now: powerless and vulnerable. He kept his head down, that is until the goblin raised his head with a firm grip on his hair. The yellow eyes looked him over in amusement as the Goblin inspected him, turning his chin from side to side before he finally let go of Peter’s curls.  
“Peter Parker,” the Green Goblin said thoughtfully. “I don’t think anyone suspected a 14 year old kid to be under the mask.” He almost seemed impressed.  
“I’m 15,” Peter snarled.  
“My sincere apologies,” the Goblin mocked.  
Peter yanked on his bonds again, shouting in anger.  
“Well you are fiesty,” the Green Goblin chided.  
“What do you want with me?” Peter demanded.  
The Goblin shrugged, “I already told you. I want you to stop getting in my way. But since you have a problem with that, I’ll have to teach you to listen to your elders. And to do that, we first need to make a call.”  
The Goblin bent down to grab the phone he had set by Peter’s side. He dialed a number and pushed the button for speaker phone. Someone picked up.  
“This is Stark.”  
Peter’s heart stopped. He bit his lip at the sound of his dad’s tired voice. Peter squeezed his eyes shut and shoved his head up against the pole.  
“Tony Stark…” The Goblin said thoughtfully.  
“Yes?” Tony sounded annoyed.  
“I’ve always liked games Mr. Stark,” the Goblin said before he looked at the phone in shock.  
“He hung up on me,” the Goblin said to Peter, shaking his head, “How rude.”  
He pushed a button and then continued talking into the phone, “Do not hang up on me Stark.”  
Peter held his breath, just wanting to hear his Tony’s voice again.  
“What is this?” Tony demanded. Peter heard him speak to his A.I. in the background, “FRIDAY?”  
“He overridden my server,” FRIDAY reported from somewhere in the back of the room, “He’s not doing any damage, just hacked into the speakers.”  
“So we’re going to play a game, called hide and seek,” the Goblin said after he allowed Tony a moment of confusion. “Stark, if you could please turn on the news, that would be great.”  
There was shuffle from the phone and Peter heard a muffled news report from the phone’s speaker, “Earlier today the Green Goblin attacked Queen’s Midtown School of Science and Technology. Luckily Spiderman was there to get the students out and fight the Goblin yet again. All camera footage was stopped as police arrived on the scene. The school was damaged, but no lives were lost and no one is severely injured. What everyone is wondering, is where is Spiderman? Some shaky camera footage shows the Green Goblin leaving the scene with what looks to be the hero with red and blue suit that we’ve grown to love, unconscious. Police are investigating as to who the Green Goblin is and where he is now. But more importantly, we want to know where our friendly neighborhood Spiderman is-”  
The TV report cut off and Peter felt tears in his eyes. The phone was silent, and then Tony’s voice rang out, strangled by anger and fear, “What did you do to him?”  
“Nothing yet,” The Goblin assured Tony, nudging Peter’s foot, “Few bumps few bruises, few cuts, nothing major though. See Stark, this is where the game comes in. I hide. Or more accurately, we hide. You seek. It’s as easy as that.”  
“I’ll find you. I’ll find you,” Tony said, and Peter knew he was running, his voice panicked, but filled with anger. “If you hurt him…” Tony threatened. Peter gulped down a sob.  
“Peter and I need to have a talk first, before I do any real damage,” The Goblin said. There was a pause of shock and Peter realized it was probably because Tony now realized that the Goblin knew who Peter was. Get to May, Tony, Peter thought, don’t let her get sucked into this.  
“I swear to God if you hurt him!” Tony yelled through the speakers, his voice breaking. Peter felt tears falling down his cheeks. He took a shaky breath, still trying to squeeze his hands through the bonds.  
Tony was still threatening, “You lay a finger on that kid and you’re dead. Understand?”  
“Have to find me first,” The goblin laughed. “Good luck, Stark.”  
“Put him on the phone!” Tony yelled desperately, his voice breaking up through the speaker, “Put. Him. On. The. Phone. I need to know you aren’t bluffing.”  
The Goblin turned back to Peter and he swore he could see him grinning through the mask. “Peter?” The Goblin said sweetly, crouching at Peter’s side, “I think Iron Man wants to say hello.”  
“Pete!” Peter hears Tony yell. He hasn’t heard that tone in a long time. It was pure fear- uncommon from Tony Stark. The Goblin holds out the phone, urging him on.  
Peter bites his lip hard, closing his eyes and shaking his head, turning away, only for the Goblin to yank his head back to the speaker.  
“Pete!” Tony yells again, “Talk to me kid!”  
Peter can’t turn away anymore; the Goblin’s got a grip on his hair. He can’t help but call out, “T-Tony?”  
He hears Tony breath a sigh of relief that’s cut short as he rambles, “Pete, I’m coming to get you. I’m coming, I promise.”  
Peter feels hot tears slide down his cheeks and he bites back a sob. Tony’s coming. Tony’s coming. He promised.  
“God, just let him go!” Tony pleads.  
The Goblin ignores him, giving Peter a mocking thumbs up, “Goodbye Stark, say the magic words: Ready or not here I come?”  
“That could have been anyone,” Tony says desperately, “Let me talk to him!”  
The Goblin debates it before he shrugs, “Fine. 15 seconds. Starting now.” He shoves the phone in between Peter’s shoulder and neck, making him hold it. Peter hears Tony’s voice.  
“Peter! Peter listen to me. Finish the line Pete: I’ve got you kid. I’ve always got you...”  
Peter closes his eyes, speaking softly, his voice shaking, “I- I got you first.”  
Then the Goblin rips the phone away from Peter.  
“Tony!” Peter yells, his voice cracking, but the Goblin has already hung up. He stifled a sob and glared at the Goblin, “You’re sick.”  
“Let me tell you something Peter,” the Goblin crouches by Peter’s side and grips his chin suddenly, forcing him to gaze into his cold eyes, “I could kill you. Right now, I could kill you. But I won’t.” He shoved Peter’s chin away and his head slumped against his chest again. Peter weakly raised it.  
“Not yet at least, and do you know why? Because I see potential,” the Goblin said.  
“I’m flattered,” Peter scoffed, weakly raising his gaze.  
“As you should. You’re a brilliant human being Peter. You’re talented and strong. We’re very much alike,” the Goblin said.  
Peter shook his head, “You’re a murderer. You’re a villain. I stop people like you. We are nothing alike.”  
The Goblin smacked his shoulder like they were old friends, “Think of it. How many people we could save...or how many people we could kill. We would be unstoppable together. And it’s all for a good reason of course, because no matter how many times you save them, those people out there...eventually, they’ll hate you. You’ve seen how they turned on your precious Avengers.”  
Peter remained silent. He sounded too much like Winston.  
“But I get it,” the Goblin hissed, “you want to be a hero. Those kids out there look up to you, but in the end, those same kids wearing your masks…” The Goblin stood and looked down at Peter, “...they’ll be the cause of your demise.”  
“That’s not true,” Peter said weakly.  
“But it is. And I’m trying to save you from having that happen,” the Goblin assured him.  
“Thanks but no thanks,” Peter said. “You’re a criminal.”  
“I’ll ask you one last time kid,” the Goblin said, raising his voice, “I’m giving you a choice. Easy way or hard way? Join me.”  
Peter didn’t even answer his question; his glare said it all. He hissed, “Don’t call me kid.”  
The Goblin’s eyes flashed and he growled in anger, kicking Peter right in the stomach. Peter stifled a groan and coughed, gulping down air.  
“Think on it hero,” the Goblin said, tossing Peter’s mask at him. He turned and started to walk toward the door.  
“Tony’s going to find me,” Peter yelled weakly after him.  
The Goblin grinned, nodding, “Oh I’m counting on it. I’m one step ahead of you Petey.”  
The door slammed shut and Peter was alone.

Tony shot across the city, scanning and searching. The only reason he wasn’t completely breaking down was because he knew he had to find Peter. This was his fault. He wasn’t there for the kid...he didn’t come help…he let this happen to the one person he swore to protect.  
He had told Peter to not go looking, and the kid didn’t, or maybe he just never got to, because the Goblin had found him first. He had somehow found out who Peter was and gone for him, attacking him at his own school. Peter was probably targeted before he even had a chance to get the suit on! Questions flew through Tony’s mind.  
How did the Goblin find out Peter was Spiderman? Did anyone else find out when Peter put on the suit to defend his students? Was he hurt? The footage of Peter, unconscious in the arms of that Goblin, ran through his head. Oh God, what if that green psychopath was hurting him…  
Tony yelled in anger and flew faster.  
He should have never agreed to stay behind and handle the paperwork, press conferences, and phone calls. He should have had someone else with him, so he could watch his kid, and be there for him. He remembered the look on Peter’s face when he took off the mask to show him what had happened to him while Tony was stuck behind his desk. Tony never wanted to see that expression again of defiance, disappointment, pain, and anger, but he would rather see that expression for every second of his life over never seeing his kid again. Peter was his responsibility, and he should have never let it come to this. He had almost lost him too many times. The worst part of it all was that Tony had been oblivious to every single one of those instances- like now.  
Especially now.  
An alert had been on his screen and Tony must have swiped it due to the amount of messages he had gotten that day. But turns out, it was an alert from Karen, FRIDAY had just told him, giving him Peter’s vitals as he sustained blows- punches and kicks-  
This was all Tony’s fault. He had swiped the message. If he had just seen it and not been so distracted, maybe he could have gotten there in time to save him-  
Now this goblin had his kid, and Tony winces as his mind forms an image of Peter screaming in pain tied up in some dark room. No, he promises himself, I’ll get there in time.  
“Incoming call from May Parker,” FRIDAY informed in.  
“May!” Tony yelled, accepting the call.  
“Peter? Where’s Peter-” May immediately gushed.  
Tony cut her off, “Are you with Happy?”  
Tony hoped Happy had gotten to her like he said. If May got dragged into this, Tony would never forgive himself. He couldn’t do that to kid. He had to make sure she was safe before he went after Peter.  
“What?”  
“Are you with Happy?” Tony shouted again.  
“Yes! Yes, I’m with Happy!” she said.  
Tony breathed a sigh of relief.  
“But where’s Peter? Tony where is he?” She was almost in tears on the other line.  
“I don’t know,” Tony’s head was spinning. He didn’t know where to start, he didn’t know where to look. If he called the Goblin back he probably wouldn’t answer and even if he did and Tony shouted for Peter to describe what was around him, he was sure the kid would do it. But he also knew that the Goblin would most likely hurt Peter for that and Tony couldn’t have that happen.  
Tony finally said, “I don’t know...You need to stay with Happy, I’ll find Peter. I’ll find him, I promise, just stay with Happy ok? Please? I’ll find him.”  
Tony hung up, his head spinning. Where is he, where is he? Tony flew across the city, and looked through different scans. Peter’s tracker was disabled, but Tony had put another one in his suit. It wasn’t a tracker necessarily, more like a beacon: an energy emitter, which meant if he got close enough, he could find him. The call was untraceable, as Tony had realized in dismay.  
He still heard Peter’s voice in his head- tired, weak, sad, angry, “T-Tony?”  
And then the quiet, “I got you first-”  
He was in pain. Tony knew Peter’s voice and tone, and he was in pain. Where was this kid?! Tony was on the brink of losing it, when suddenly he heard a wonderful blip and saw the dot on his display. He had never flown faster in his entire life. 

It was a construction site for a new office building. The OSCORP building. Tony never liked OSCORP. They had been in Queens for a while now, but never made the news or any big sales. He had met Norman, the owner once, and Tony didn’t like him either, not only because he was a form of competition, but that guy creeped him out. He swore that if this was some sick way of taking down Stark Industries from the inside by stealing his kid…  
No, that wasn’t possible. Maybe Tony was overreacting. He wondered if this was connected to that at all. No one was working though, the building was silent. Not a single light was on. Tony landed on the ground, his metal feet clinking against the hard pavement, jogging as he touched down, before he came to a complete stop.  
“FRIDAY talk to me,” he said.  
“Straight ahead boss. It seems like there are additional structures underneath. Basement includes rooms and hallways.”  
Tony burst through the wall; if he had to pay for the building so be it. He would tear the whole place down if he had to if it meant finding Peter.  
Tony wandered even further into the building, the blueprint on his display. He turns down a hallway, walking faster, his right hand extended outward, a glow coming from the repulsor.  
“Give me something,” Tony said, and FRIDAY loaded an energy emission point onto his display.  
Tony’s heart stopped. His son was in here.  
“Where is it coming from?” Tony demanded. 

The Goblin smiled evilly as he went down the hall when he suddenly stumbled, tripping into a room. The Goblin pitched forward out of the glider and sank to the floor, gripping his mask, yanking it off, and rising weakly to his knees. There was a searing headache in his forehead.  
“This isn’t right-” His voice was weak, scared, his head spinning.  
He spun towards the helmet that lay a foot away, his voice changing, a cold shiver creeping down his spine, the Goblin taking over once again.  
“Of course it’s right. Your mind is deceiving you. Stop resisting.”  
Now he’s back to the weak, scared voice as the Green Goblin crumpled to his hands and knees, “He’s a kid. I didn’t know he was a kid...”  
“He’s still Spiderman. Kid, no kid, he made a fool of you,” the Goblin spat to himself, his voice low and evil, “and he’s in your way.”  
“He’s 15!” he sobbed, “He’s only 15!”  
“And he’s a 15 year old who can stop you. He’s the only one who could stop you and since he won’t join you, you must eliminate the threat of your own failure. Don’t try and work your way around him again and again and again- go through him.”  
The man shakes his head, “I can’t…”  
“There’s no other way!” The Goblin yells to his split personality. “You must cut it off at the source! You can’t kill Spiderman,” he said to himself, “but Peter Parker is weak. He can be taught a lesson.”  
“I can’t,” he shakes his head, “His eyes were so young...so innocent and young-”  
“You must!” he hisses.  
“He was scared. He was in pain,” he moans.  
“You must instruct him with pain. Manipulate him with fear. Teach him who he’s dealing with. And then, we will destroy him. You want power don’t you? You want to get back at those who have wronged you and belittled you your whole life! And you’re going to let a 15 year old stand in the way of your dreams? Of your destiny?”  
The Goblin started crawling to his mask, “He must not stand in my way.”  
“Exactly.”  
“I have to stop him.”  
“Yes.”  
“How? Tell me how…”  
“Body and mind can be easily hurt, but they will eventually heal. But what shatters an enemy most?”  
“His heart,” he answered himself breathlessly.  
He nods and grins to himself, a grin identical to that of the mask as he reaches to return it over his head. His eyes flash and he laughs lowly, “Bingo. Go for the heart of the innocent Parker.”

Peter strained against the pole. Come on, come on, almost there. He ripped through the bonds and Peter fell forward, his hands free. Yes!  
He got to his feet, staggering in the dimly lit room. His head was pounding and he could hear his heart beating out of his chest. His vision was going in and out of focus. Those were definitely effects of whatever he had been injected with.  
“I underestimated you Spiderman. I thought you would take longer. You’re stronger than I expected.”  
Peter turned again, in a full circle, almost shaking in anger. The voice sounded like it was electronic; maybe there were speakers in here? Peter did a turn again, rubbing his wrists and gulping back fear, trying to blink away the dizziness. He was slightly swaying even though he was standing straight.  
“I’m an overachiever, what can I say?” Peter responded cockily, but he couldn’t hide the panic in his voice.  
“Are you ready for your lesson?”  
Then, suddenly, all the lights went out. Peter could only hear himself breathing and then a laugh came from above him. The Goblin was in the room with him.  
“The itsy bitsy spider went up the water spout…”  
Peter felt like he was in a nightmare, the creepy voice bouncing off the wall, flooding the room. Peter felt a tap on his shoulder and he cried out, spinning. Nothing was there that Peter could see. His eyes couldn’t adjust to this level of darkness. Maybe the Goblin was there- Peter had no way of knowing. He turned in the dark, reaching down to try and find his mask. It had night vision on it. If he could get to his mask he might have a chance-  
Then a foot connected with his back and sent him sprawling. Peter got to his feet, not knowing where he was, what he was doing, where he was going- all he could see was darkness.  
“Down came the goblin and took the spider out...”  
A kick hit Peter straight in the chest and he crashed backward, slamming into the wall. Peter got to his hands and knees, groaning.  
“Out came the sun, and the spider yelled in pain,” the Goblin mocked from the shadows, letting out a laugh that echoed in the dark room. Peter held his side with one hand, grasping the floor for his mask. Where is it? Where is-  
Peter’s spider senses tingle and looks up. Glowing eyes appear right in front of him making him jump. Peter yelps and scrambles back, trying to shoot a web but his wrist is caught and tossed aside. Peter is raised to his knees with a hand gripping his throat, bright yellow lenses bearing down on him. He blinks from the light in his eyes, dazed and in pain, but focussed because of the sudden loss in oxygen. Peter struggled before he felt the air move next to him. He twisted in the Goblin’s grip only to see a fist come straight at him, hitting him in the face. The Goblin released him and Peter collapsed to his knees, but before he could even reel from that blow, pain exploded in his stomach as a foot flipped him onto his back. The lights came on again and Peter coughed violently, his eyes adjusting. He rolled over with a groan and tried to get to his feet. He faintly heard the familiar ‘whoosh’ of the glider he had come hate and somehow staggered to his feet. Peter could do nothing but brace as it slammed into him. His stomach dropped as he was shoved into the wall with a very hard SMACK, his head hitting the stone. The glider pushed against his stomach, keeping him there, a foot off the ground. The Goblin walked forward, clapping, as Peter struggled against the glider that was pinning him against the wall. The Goblin had reached the glider and he leaned forward on it, resting his arms on the metal. There was a tiny pocket knife in his hand and he flipped it in and out.  
“And the itsy bitsy spider has finally learned a lesson.” The Goblin finished the song and laughed again. “How’s it going Pete?” he taunted.  
“Just...hanging out-” Peter coughed weakly.  
“Funny guy, funny guy,” the goblin said. He reached up and pushed Peter’s hair away from his eyes with the tip of the knife, the sharp blade slowly moving across his forehead. Peter froze.  
“You know I thought we could be great Peter. Don’t you want to be great?” He asked.  
Peter didn’t answer. He strained under the weight of the glider, snarling.  
“I have the knife Peter, I would answer the question,” the goblin warned. Peter could see the crazed eyes beneath the yellow lenses, and it brought him back to his old nightmares. He had thought he had seen the worst with the Vulture, and he was wrong. This was much, much worse.  
“I’m telling you Peter, we could do amazing things. So tell me hero, are you in or out?”  
“Take one guess,” Peter snarled weakly.  
The Goblin snarled and the glider backed up for him to jump on it. Peter collapsed to the floor, coughing and trying to get to his hands and knees.  
“You don’t learn Peter. I’m not a person you want to have as an enemy,” the Goblin warned.  
“I never learn,” Peter said.  
“Then maybe Stark will,” the Goblin said, knowing that would hit a nerve, which it did.  
“Leave him alone,” Peter warned.  
“No,” the Goblin giggled, “I will hurt him worse than I hurt you, and maybe, if I’m in the mood, I’ll kill him.”  
Peter coughed, weakly raising his head off the ground, “No-”  
“Yes Peter. And since you’ve pissed me off, I’ll make it nice and slow,” the Goblin hissed.  
Peter had been acting this whole time and at that he let out a yell and made his move, jumping up before the Goblin could react and snatching the knife out of his hand.He plunged it into the chink of the armor as hard as he could and the goblin let out a howl, smacking him across the face with a metal fist. Peter stumbled but did not fall until the third hit that smacked his head against the wall. He groaned in pain.  
“I have to say Peter-” the goblin pulled out the knife and returned it to the clasp in his suit, “You don’t give up do you? For that, Tony and I will have a heck of a time.”  
Peter shook his head desperately, cursing himself for being so careless, trying to get to his feet and failing. “No- you wouldn’t- no-” he croaked.  
“Are you going to stop me?” The Goblin asked.  
“Yes.” Peter successfully stood and shot a web at the glider, yanking it back. The Goblin laughed and cut it effortlessly with that same knife, causing Peter to fall backward, because he had yanked it so hard. But Peter wasn’t giving up just yet. He shot another web, this time at the Goblin himself and then grabbed the pole he had been tied to, giving him leverage.  
“I admire you Peter,” the Goblin said, ignoring the web that was latched to his chest. Peter pulled with all of his might, and the glider slowly started to shake from the force.  
Then the Goblin finished his sentence, “But you can’t beat me.”  
The Goblin reached behind him and grabbed some sphere thing from his belt and threw it at Peter. It separated into tiny spinning blades and Peter yelped, avoiding all but one that sliced across his chest, leaving a nasty cut that ripped both his suit and skin. Peter staggered back, grasping his bloody chest.  
“Oops,” the Goblin laughed. He broke away from the web and chucked a cylinder towards Peter that immediately started smoking. Peter stumbled forward, ignoring what looks to be a smoke bomb, instead swinging himself forward to grab the glider. The Goblin watched him, allowing him to clutch the side.  
“Don’t hurt Tony,” Peter said firmly, his hand reaching underneath the glider to find the core like he did last time. It wasn’t hard to fake the tears.  
“Please...do whatever you want to me, just don’t hurt Tony.”  
Where was it, where was it? It wasn’t on the bottom of the glider. Peter realized he had been looking down and when he looked back up, he nearly jumped out of his skin; the yellow eyes were an inch from his, the Goblin crouched and staring at him.  
“I made a few adjustments to the glider Parker,” the Goblin snarled.  
Peter cut the act, but didn’t stagger back in time. Crap. The Goblin kicked him in the face and Peter stumbled back before the glider spun and caught him right at the waist, sending him flying into the back wall. He hit it hard and then crumpled to the floor, weak and in too much pain to get up. The smoke he was breathing in wasn’t helping.  
“Misery, pain, and hurt.” The glider came over to Peter and the Goblin got a grip on his hair, forcing him to raise his gaze.  
“That’s what you’ve chosen Peter. I offered you an alliance, and you turned me down.” He let him drop to the floor without a single thought. “And now I wish I could stay to finish you off, but I can’t,” the Goblin seemed very disappointed, “because your pal Stark is in for a treat.”  
“Not Tony,” Peter mumbled, coughing up blood as he gulped down air. He was trembling, shaking his head as he pleaded for real now, “Not Tony…wait-please-no-”  
“Pathetic and weak,” the Goblin spat before looking down at him in disdain, “Maybe it’s better you’ll be dead.”  
The glider slowly moved away, and the Goblin cackled, “You’ve fought your last fight Spiderman! And you lost.” The glider did a loop and the Goblin waved, “Goodbye Peter Parker.”  
“No,” Peter whispered hoarsely, “No, not Tony- no-”  
The door slammed shut.

Tony continued to wander, calling Peter’s name in the dark building.  
“FRIDAY where is he?”  
“I don’t know-” FRIDAY stopped, then said, “Incoming call.”  
“Answer,” Tony said hurriedly.  
“It’s your turn Iron Man.”  
Tony froze as the UNKNOWN CALLER ID label appeared on his screen, the voice recording spiking up as a laugh came through his speakers, “It seems you’ve found us.”  
“FRIDAY locate it now,” Tony demanded, tracing the call.  
“The little Spider chose wrong. So I taught him a lesson.”  
A lesson...a lesson? What did he do to Peter?!  
“What did you do with my kid? I swear to God if you hurt him!” Tony snarled.  
“Ready or not, here I come.”  
“I’m waiting for you,” Tony growled.  
FRIDAY then came in with the report, “Call origin located. Suspect is moving toward you,”  
Tony swiped all of his screens away and readied his repulsors down the hallway.  
“Tin can, tin can,” a giggle comes from behind him somehow.  
Tony whirls, but there is nothing there. He hears a noise behind him, meaning it’s down the hallway he had originally been facing and doesn’t think, just spins and fires a repulsor. The Goblin is a foot away from him and his glider narrowly dodge the blast. Tony fires another beam and his thrusters kick into gear, shooting him away from the glider that impaled itself into the wall where Tony had been. The Goblin yanks his machine out of the stone and is giggling still, his laugh creepy and unsettling.  
Tony lets out a low growl and demands, “Where is he?”  
“The spider?” the Goblin asks innocently, going in for a strike. Tony sidesteps and shoots a beam at the glider, clipping the edge.  
“WHERE’S PETER?” Tony yells.  
The Goblin laughs gleefully and Tony gets angry, shooting himself forward, crashing into the Goblin and slamming him against the wall before throwing him to the floor. The glider breaks off and skitters to the side, smoking.  
Tony snarls and grips the Goblins throat, “Where. Is. Peter.”  
The Goblin laughs with what air he has left, ignoring Tony’s grip around his neck. Tony looks up and sees the glider swoop forward, up from it’s heap in the corner. Before he can blink, a knife comes out of the center and embeds itself in Tony’s chest, knocking him off the Goblin. Tony gasps as he’s blown backward, but the real shock comes when he somehow feels the blade go through his now flickering arc reactor and pierce skin...more than a little skin. He scrambles to his feet and the Goblin jumps up as well, punching the knife hard, right in the center, sending Tony flying backward and hitting the wall, the knife embedded even further in his chest.  
“Arc reactor damaged,” FRIDAY reports nervously.  
“Yeah I know that,” Tony grumbles, struggling to breath.  
The Goblin comes at him again and Tony shoots two beams at him, knocking him off the glider.  
“Your suit is failing you Iron Man,” the Goblin taunts.  
“FRIDAY send backup suits,” Tony requests.  
“Already sent out,” she says.  
His arc reactor is flickering dangerously and Tony stumbles, his suit getting heavier. Every breath he takes plunges the tip of the knife in deeper into his chest and Tony hasn’t had a dull moment to pull it out. He finally gets the upper hand, a beam to the Goblins chest and a fist to the side of his green head. The Goblin falters after the beating and Tony hits him again against the stone, shooting a beam at the glider and smashing it into the wall. He punches the Goblin again, thinking about what this guy could have done to Peter. He punches the goblin again and again, each time imagining what this psycho did to his kid for the past 4 hours. Then Tony, in his anger, brings back his hand to deliver the final blow, his repulsor heating up, fingers extended, ready to fire.  
“Wait…” the Goblin giggles.  
Tony hates himself for it, but he stops.  
The Goblin taps something on his wrist and a display appears in front of him. Tony sees a dark and smokey room and his heart stops when, in the bottom of the screen, he sees a figure in a red and blue suit crumpled on the floor, unmoving.  
Tony lets out a yell and angrilly slams his metal fist into the Goblin’s head again, just not as hard. Tony leaves him there, unconscious, and he turns, angrily ripping out the knife and flying down the hallway to get to his son.

The Goblin giggles to himself, getting up from the ground and ignoring the pain. It was a wonder Iron Man hadn’t killed him right then and there. He had gotten a good shot right to the chest, puncturing the arc reactor. He thinks the knife went through the armor and made a rather deep cut as well.  
“Tin can, tin can...” he mutters to himself as he staggers a bit, shaking his head to clear the dizziness, “go find your kid. Go find him. If it’s not already too late.”  
Then he grips his mask, his voice changing, “He’ll kill you- me after what we did. After what I did to Peter.”  
“We have to make sure Stark is dead first then, don’t we?” he snarls back. He hummed as he pulled out a piece of paper from a slot on the glider and set it on the rocks where he had fallen.  
He smiled, “It’s all going according to plan.”  
He grabbed 2 bombs from his glider and shoved them in the wall, setting them on motion timers.  
“Stark’s in for a treat. Now we have to finish off the little spider. Right under his nose.”  
The Goblin gets on his glider and goes down the opposite hall.  
“Tin can…” he whispers, “he’ll be too late…”

Tony makes it to the room, following the weakened energy source and he finds a door with a small window in the center of it. It’s dimly lit, dark and creepy, and Tony slams his fist on the door when he sees the crumpled figure in the center of the room.  
“Pete!”  
Tony bites his lip, firing up one of his missiles. The door explodes and Tony runs in, diving to his knees at his kid’s side and pulling him into his strong metal arms.  
Oh God.  
Peter’s mask lays a few feet from his crumpled form. He doesn’t move, his body limp as Tony holds him.  
“FRIDAY?” Tony yells.  
“The room was filled with some sort of gas. Peter’s spider regeneration is resisting it. You got to him in time. I’m reworking the vents to bring in pure air.”  
Tony breathes a sigh of relief and then looks over Peter’s broken body: bloody and bruised.  
His hair is curly and messy, wet with sweat and blood, and his suit is ripped up; there’s a long slice across his chest, turning the blue part of the suit a dark red. Tony can see the damage that Goblin did with his metal fists, not only to his visible face- a black eye, bloody nose, a bruise on his jaw, a cut on his eyebrow and a busted lip- but probably to the rest of his body too. Peter’s eyes remained shut even though Tony has been saying his name over and over for the past 30 seconds.  
“Pete? Peter, kid, please wake up. Wake up, Peter. Please kid…” Tony pleads, brushing Peter’s hair away from his face.  
FRIDAY said he was ok...FRIDAY said...Tony didn’t know what to do but plead with the limp form of his son, the situation feeling like the nightmares he’d had but never told Peter about. It was too real. Tony was desperate now, “Peter!”  
Peter gives a beautiful cough, blinking, his eyes bright as he slowly opens them. His gaze becomes focused as it finds Tony.  
“Dad…” he mumbles.  
Tony smiles sadly, “Hey kid.”  
“Tony you...you came,” Peter says weakly, almost sobbing in relief.  
“Of course I came,” Tony said firmly, “I promised I would.”  
“It hurts,” Peter scrunches up his nose, pain rippling across his face, “Tony it hurts…”  
Tony had heard that way more times then he wanted to.  
“His lungs are working. He’s taking in oxygen. He should be ok in a couple of minutes. I would shut off the smoke container though.”  
Tony shot a missile without even looking, taking care of the tiny container. Then he thought of the Goblin, the man who did this to Peter, whom Tony had left still alive. He needed to pay for what he did to his son. Tony made up his mind, knowing Peter was recovering, and that the Goblin was probably still limp in the pile of rocks, laughing and talking to himself like a psychopath.  
“Hey, I’m gonna go take care of Greenie,” Tony said, laying Peter gently on the floor, “You’re done.”  
“I can help,” Peter protested, trying to get to his feet, “I’m not done, I’m not done…”  
Peter replied the same way he had to Tony back at the airport- the first time Tony had a heart attack when he saw Peter limp on the pavement after that big fall. It was the first time of many times, and it was in that moment that Tony realized how much that kid from Queens meant to him. Not only that, but also how much Tony meant to Peter. So much so that the kid was willing to push through the pain and keep fighting, just for Tony. That same spirit had nearly gotten him killed way too many times, but it was also that same spirit that kept Peter alive, and the same spirit that Tony loved.  
“You have helped kid. You have,” Tony says, keeping a hand firm on his shoulder, a sign for Peter to stay put, “but you need to breathe and take a rest. I’ll go get the Goblin.”  
Tony lowered his voice, locking eyes with Peter, “I’m not letting him get away after what he did to you.”  
Peter’s gaze is filled with so many emotions and he’s about to say something but then his glance falls on Tony’s arc reactor that has a big split in the middle. Peter knits his eyebrows in concern and brushes his fingers against the stab wound, “Tony your suit-”  
Tony gently pushes his hand away, “I’m fine Pete,” he assured the kid.  
“But-” Peter protested, his gaze still on the wound in Tony’s chest.  
“FRIDAY’s already sent me a backup suit. It’s waiting for me when I go out in the hallway.”  
He stood, promising Peter, “I’ll be right back, I promise. Stay here Pete. I love you kid, I’m sorry- this is all my fault-”  
“No. No it’s not.” Peter makes sure he says that clearly and shakes his head with difficulty, “It’s not your fault.”  
Tony gives him a weak smile. There’s no use arguing with him now, but Tony knows the truth.  
He says, “Stay here kid,” one last time before he runs out the door.

Peter slowly gets to his hands and knees and reaches to grab his mask. Everything hurts. But he’s ok. He’s going to be ok, because Tony’s here- or he was. He’d be back. He promised he would come back. Peter groans, letting out a whimper of pain and coughing up the last of the gross taste in his mouth from the smoke bomb.  
Then he hears something in the shadows and all of his confidence and relief is stabbed to pieces.  
“Well that was cute. I thought he’d never leave,” says a voice, and it fills Peter with fear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Petey :(  
> Comment your thoughts, how did you like that chapter?!  
> Thanks for reading! 20 coming tomorrow!!!


	20. Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another chapterrrrr! :)  
> Hope you all enjoy! We get a little more action and resolution in this one and I pay tribute to the OG 2002 spiderman. Enjoy the feels and the angst- sorry not sorry... :)  
> Next chapter is the last chapter in Part 1! Hope you all like it!  
> Comment your thoughts- i love to hear them <3

Tony’s suit broke down the minute the other one was there waiting for him. It was incredibly good timing, and he was glad for it. Tony let the other suit crumple off him and he staggered a bit, dropping to the floor and grasping the wound in his chest from the knife. It wasn’t that deep, but there was a lot of blood. Tony had to worry about that later; he had to get back to Peter, but first, he had to finish off the Goblin. The other suit flew down the hallway and Tony breathed a sigh of relief as it enclosed around him. His display came to life. He got to his feet with the help of the Iron Man suit.  
“FRIDAY, track my path back,” he requested.  
“On it.”  
A flight pattern appeared on his helmet and Tony shot through the hallway, ready to kill the Goblin after what he did to his son. Tony could still see Peter in his mind, limp on the floor, with a bloody nose and bruised jaw, black eye and the huge bleeding gash on his chest, his body weak and broken. Tony could still feel the dead weight as he pulled his motionless form into his lap. Tony could still hear himself yelling his kid’s name in a panic, despite the fact that FRIDAY had told him he would be ok. Hearing Peter take that breath was such a relief, but when he saw the pain in his kid’s eyes, and how he flinched whenever Tony touched him because of the bruises…  
He was going to kill that Goblin.  
He would kill him after what he did.  
Tony swore that no one would ever get away with hurting his son- ever. Then Tony froze as he turned the corner, both of his palms out and ready to fire. The hallway was empty...completely blown up by their previous fight, but still empty. The spot where the glider had been was just a pile of rocks. The place where the Goblin had been was bare except for a tiny piece of paper that Tony saw, wedged in between two chunks of wall. Tony flew himself over and grabbed it- almost ripped it; he pulled it out so hard.

The itsy bitsy spider got punched and kicked around  
Down came the goblin and knocked the spider out  
In came the tin can and tried to save the day  
But he left the little spider to be the Goblin’s prey. 

Oh, Stark. You’re so predictable.

Tony dropped the note, turning to run back down the hallway. Then he saw two tiny flashing lights on either side of him. The flashing lights got faster and faster. And when he looked closer at one he saw a circular bomb light up in between the two chunks of rock.  
The Goblin had tricked him yet again. Oh no.  
“No!” Tony yelled, trying to lunge forward to avoid the ticking bombs that would go off any second. He wasn’t fast enough. The walls blew up on either side and Tony was blown backward, crashing through 5 sets of walls before finally coming to a stop under a pile of broken rock.  
“Multiple contusions detected,” FRIDAY reported as the world crumbled around him.  
“Yeah I detected those too,” Tony winced, his vision blacking out on him, not only because the ceiling was crumbling and collapsing on top of him, but because he was probably seriously injured.  
“Sir, I’m losing you,” FRIDAY warned.  
“Don’t let me black...out...FRIDAY,” Tony commanded.  
“Sir!” FRIDAY said loudly, “You need to stay awake. Peter needs you. Tony, stay awake.”  
His suit jolted forward, blasting a rock that would have hit his head. Tony’s head snapped up, then dropped again, his eyes closing against his will.  
“Peter…” Tony mumbled, feeling a sharp pain in his head as even more of the ceiling fell on his suit as he tried to get to his hands and knees, “FRIDAY...detach arm and pull…I need to get to...Peter…” 

Peter turned, his eyes wide.  
“No,” he said softly, his eyes searching for his worst nightmare.  
“Yes, Spiderman.” The Goblin stepped out of the shadows.  
He scrambled backward, hoping this was all a dream. Peter desperately shot a web at the Goblin’s arm, and it was a good shot too; it pinned his hand against the dark wall. The Goblin didn’t seem to mind and he waved creepily, “Hello Peter. Did you have a nice little moment with Stark?”  
“Stay away from me,” Peter said, getting to his feet and stumbling backward. His leg threatened to give out on him but Peter wouldn’t let it. He knew he had to stay standing.  
“I didn’t want to interrupt your moment.” The Goblin’s mask seemed to grin more even though the metal never changed.  
“You’ve lost. Tony’s coming back-” Peter said weakly.  
“Lost?” the Goblin giggled, “I haven’t lost.”  
Peter remembered the glider too late and it crashed through the side wall. Peter rolled out of the way, narrowly avoiding it, his body in screaming pain from that movement alone. Bits of the ceiling were scraped off of the ceiling as the glider passed and they fell. Peter covered his head with his hands as they littered the ground, a rather big piece catching his shoulder, making Peter cry out. They finally stopped falling and Peter gasped for breath, his trembling arm stretched out, his shaking palm flat on the floor.  
The Goblin effortlessly cut himself free from the wall and snickered, “I’ve already won Peter. The one thing people love more than a hero is watching a hero fall. Crumble, right in front of them. You’re going to crumble Peter. And I’m going to watch, laughing.”  
The Goblin looked down at him from the glider as Peter turned up on his elbows, still shaking.  
“And every time you close your eyes,” the Goblin said softly, “you’ll have a shiver down your spine. You’ll look over your shoulder. You’ll live in fear. Scars will heal Peter, especially your scars. But memories cannot.”  
“You ruined a children’s song, that’s for sure,” Peter grumbled despite being scared out of his mind. But deep down, he knew the Goblin was right. He had thought the Vulture had scared him enough, but he was wrong. If he lived through this...it would be a lot worse.  
“But unfortunately for you Peter, you’re no use to me. The city will never know what happened to the good old Spiderman.”  
Peter had been frozen with fear and that’s exactly when the goblin made his move. He was startled out of his trance as the Goblin sprung forward. Peter did his best to roll out of the way but the Goblin snagged his arm, and Peter yelled, straining in the grip as they rose to to the high ceiling. The Goblin laughed gleefully, tossing him up into the air. Peter flailed in mid air and he got an awful feeling in his stomach as he started to drop. He shot a desperate web to stop himself from slamming into the ground and he skimmed the ground and back up into the air, his fall stopped. As he swung forward, Peter twisted in mid-air to find his enemy. Too slow. The Goblin’s glider caught him right at the chest and smacked him across the room. Peter lost his grip on his web as hit the ground rolling. At first he crumpled, weak and exhausted, using the wall as support, but then instinctively moved away because of his spider sense. Good thing too; the glider had embedded itself against the wall that Peter had been leaning against. He tried to get to his feet but then there were hands, like an iron grip, clasped around his throat. Peter choked as he was backed into the wall and raised off his feet. Peter needed air. He needed air now. His lungs were burning, his face turning red, panic setting in as Peter knew he was helpless to break the hold that was locked around his windpipe.  
“Peter, Peter, Peter,” the Goblin tisked, “we could have done extraordinary things.”  
His expression seemed to darken, as did his tone, and his eyes flashed behind the yellow lenses that were staring into Peter’s soul. Peter’s gaze flicked to the door.  
“Still waiting for Stark to save you?” the Goblin taunted before he let out a low laugh, “Don’t count on it.”  
“What did you do to him,” Peter choked.  
“I killed him,” the Goblin said happily.  
“No-” Peter sobbed. Oh God. No, not Tony. Anyone but Tony.  
“You’re...lying…” Peter cried.  
“Why would I lie to you Peter?” The Goblin asked, cocking his head.  
Peter sobbed, his breathing raspy, tears falling down his cheeks. Oh God…  
Peter’s chest heated up and his expression switched from horror and sadness to anger and pure fury. Peter struggled, but it was useless. He couldn’t keep this up for much longer. He kicked his legs and tried to push away the hands that were wrapped around his neck, gasping and choking. His vision was going blurry, his mouth dry, and his lungs were giving up. Peter saw black every couple of seconds as it slowly ate away at his eyesight. His movements were sluggish- just weak jolts as Peter tried to think straight.  
“Let’s see how long a spider can hold its breath,” the Goblin taunts.  
I’m sorry, Peter thought. To Ben. To May. To his parents. And to Tony.  
Peter’s hands fell limp and his head slumped against the hand holding his throat. Peter’s feet dangled as he drifted into unconsciousness. The last thing he hears is the Goblin’s unsettling giggle as Peter allows his eyes to slowly close. He looks down at the spider on his chest, wanting anything other than the yellow lenses to be the last thing that he sees.  
Then in a split second and in a brilliant flash of hot-rod red and yellow, Peter felt the hand get yanked away. He dropped 3 feet to the ground, the yellow eyes jerked to the side, and the evil laugh was cut short. Peter coughed violently, his body kicking back into drive, gasping for precious air. Peter blinked hard, gripping his throat, his lungs burning with every inhale he took to make up for the past 30 seconds. Peter coughed, taking rapid breaths, on his hands and knees. It took him about 10 seconds until he finally raised his head.  
Iron Man had slammed the Goblin into the wall and now threw him across the room.  
“Pete!” Tony yelled, shooting at beam at the Goblin, pushing him back.  
“Tony,” Peter sobbed, more relieved to see him than anyone else in the entire world. Peter got to his feet and stumbled to Tony, who surged for him as he punched the goblin halfway across the room. Peter collapsed into his chest with a strangled, choked sob. Tony grabbed him and held him with one hand, and shot a beam from his repulsor with his other. Peter saw the Goblin throw a small bomb at them and Tony cried out before he turned to shield him with his armor. Peter knew it wouldn’t do him any good. He raised his arm over Tony’s shoulder. With effort, he put two fingers to his palm and his web latched itself onto the flashing bomb. He swung it right back at the Goblin who had to dive out of the way to avoid the explosion.  
“Gosh I love you kid,” Tony said, his helmet popping up to reveal Tony’s bloodied but grinning face. Peter gave a weak smile. Tony shot tiny bursts as the Goblin flipped and dodged and Peter webbed the glider, before yanking it with whatever strength he had left, spinning it into the wall. He let go of the web and let the glider go, and go it did. It crashed through multiple sets of walls before it spun out of sight, smoking and whirling.  
Tony had a huge beam right at the Goblin’s chest keeping him pinned against the wall. Peter shot two webs: one arm crossed over the other, webbing one of the Goblin’s hands and his foot.  
Tony stopped his beam and grabbed Peter, pulling him to his chest like he never wanted to let go again. The helmet receded to Tony’s neck and he locked eyes with Peter, his gaze overwhelmed by emotions as he held Peter up by his shoulders.  
“Are you ok? Are you ok?” Tony asked, cupping Peter’s chin.  
“Yeah...yeah im ok,” Peter nodded weakly, not wanting to leave his side. He stood firm, even though it hurt like heck. New energy flooded through him now that Tony was here.  
“I’m sorry- I- I shouldn’t have left you-” Tony said miserably before he was cut off. He and Peter both turned to look at their enemy.  
“But you did,” the Goblin snarled from his spot at the wall.  
Peter glared at the Goblin with a look of death and was so close to webbing his mouth shut.  
“And you just had to get in my way,” the Goblin sighed.  
“In your way?” Tony spat.  
“You’ve ruined more than you know Stark. More than you’ll ever know,” the Goblin hissed back.  
“Then don’t take my kid,” Tony said coldly, stepping closer to Peter.  
The Goblin cocked his head, “Oh, we did have fun, didn’t we Pete?”  
Peter bit his lip and stepped further backward into Tony, trying to keep his breathing steady. He avoided eye contact, but somehow those yellow lenses found him, and Peter knew they would always find him and creep into his nightmares.  
“Shut up,” Tony warned the Goblin softly, seeing Peter’s reaction.  
“He told me not to hurt you Stark. Did you know that?”  
The Goblin laughed gleefully, and it was unsettling. Peter had never seen a mind so corrupt and so twisted.  
“You should have seen his face when I called you,” the Goblin shouted happily, and he giggled: a laugh that echoed eerily through the room, “You should have seeeeeen him!”  
At that, Peter saw a part of Tony snap and the metal arm shot up, his repulsor charging with firepower, ready to blast.  
“Are you gonna kill me Stark?” the Goblin asked quietly. His voice showed no fear.  
Tony was shaking, his arm trembling, his mouth a tight line, taking deep and shaky breaths that were cut short. Peter knew he was actually debating the Goblin’s question.  
“Are you gonna kill me,” the Goblin asked again, “in front of Peter? Oh, Pete look away,” the Goblin mocked, “Dad’s angry. Close your eyes Peter. Close them.”  
“Tony,” Peter said, ignoring the psychopath. Tony didn’t lower his arm. It was firm but still trembling in anger, aimed right at the Goblin’s chest.  
“Do it Stark. I dare you. Come on Stark. Just fire it. End my life. Prove me right,” the Goblin urged, “Kill in cold blood. It won’t be the first time, will it Stark?”  
Tony was breathing hard, his nostrils flaring, his gaze colder than Peter had ever seen it. Peter stepped forward and gripped the shaking metal arm.  
“Tony,” he said firmly.  
Tony looked at him with fury in his eyes. Peter almost took a step back. It was misdirected anger and Peter hoped he never saw that look again.  
“Dad,” Peter whispered weakly.  
Tony looked at him again, and immediately his face went slack. He looked at Peter apologetically and Peter could see the internal struggle. Tony then turned back to the Goblin and cursed, letting out a strangled yell of anger as he lowered his arm.  
“Weak. Pathetic. Just like Peter. Hero’s have no will to act,” the Goblin spat, before he suddenly went limp in the webs and let out some sort of scream. He brought his hands to his head and pressed as if he had a headache. Peter took a step back and Tony positioned himself in front of him, both of them unsure of what was happening.  
Then the Goblin did something neither of them were expecting. With his free hand he took of the mask. The man beneath the mask was nothing like Peter had expected. He looked frail and old, tired and weak, and his eyes were no longer cold and piercing, but scared and fearful. His hair was wet with sweat from the mask and Peter was deeply caught off guard.  
“Norman Osborn,” Tony said breathlessly. Peter jerked his head up to look at Tony. He knew him?  
“Stark, please, help me,” the man said, his eyes crazed and wide. His voice was nothing like the Goblin’s, and Peter had trouble believing it was the same person as he continued.  
“Help me. Please Stark, he’s coming back. Don’t let him take over again. Don’t let him! He’s corrupting me- he- Stark please, you know I would never do any of this, but he makes me. He gets in my head, in my body, plays with my conscience, I have no control-” the man turns to Peter, “I’m sorry, Peter you’re just a kid. I tried to reason with him but he wouldn’t have it. I never wanted to hurt you or anybody- please Peter-”  
Peter and Tony had been such a state of shock that neither of them noticed his hand, that was webbed to the wall, press something on his thumb. Tony didn’t hear the glider coming at them full speed, but luckily Peter did. He heard the whirrr of the engine speeding up and out of the corner of his eye he saw the two blades coming out from the middle of the glider as it picked up speed, ready to imale both of them.  
The expression of the man changed in a split second: the eyes glazing over with a crazed look of pure insanity that Peter had seen through the yellow lenses, his trembling lips twisting into a nasty grin that looked way too similar to the Green Goblin mask.  
“So long Spiderman,” the man said, in a low growl that Peter was used to.  
His spidey senses tingle and time went in slow motion as Peter had less than 5 seconds before the glider was close enough to stab them. He let out a strangled yell and tackled Tony to the ground. Peter felt the whoosh of the glider go past them as they hit the ground, and heard the man go “oh” as the glider sped embedded itself into the chest of the Green Goblin, crushing him against the wall. The glider’s blades sank to the hilt and Peter looked up from the ground, breathing hard, barely able to think through the pain.  
Tony was protectively crouched over Peter when they had fallen, shielding him with the suit, but he looked up at the Goblin as well, who was struggling against the glider, trying to push it away. Peter and Tony stand, looking with wide eyes at what had happened. The blades had sank into the brick wall, and the Goblin’s mouth was full of blood as he choked, coughing and screwing up his face in pain. His alter ego appears a couple times, rather relieved than anything else, like he was finally released from insanity. Yet the minute that weak man left the body, tackled by his second conscious, the glare was back and the Goblin struggled to breath, straining against the glider, coughing up blood that made a puddle on the floor below him. He had seconds to live and Peter watched in horror, almost not wanting to look. He hadn’t seen this happen before. Tony put his arm around Peter’s, both protecting and consoling. Tony’s gaze was like stone. Peter, on the other hand, was watching in complete shock. The Goblin tried to form words as life was sucked out of him by the two blades that were driven through his gut and into the wall.  
“Eventually,” the Goblin rasped, coughing as he dipped forward, “You’ll...lose...”  
And then the Goblin slumps forward, and doesn’t move. And he won’t move ever again- not by his own doing anyway.  
Peter’s shaking, gulping down sobs, horrified at what he had just witnessed. Tony turns him around just as Peter’s legs give out underneath him and he hugs Tony hard, his hands trembling against the metal armor that’s wrapped around him. Tony holds him for a minute, and they sink to the ground.  
The Goblin was dead, and Peter had killed him.  
It replays over and over in Peter’s head: seeing the glider, feeling it in his veins, hearing the metal rub together of the two knives coming out, pushing Tony out of the way…  
And then comes the sound as the glider passes them and finds another victim, slices through not only his armor, but skin, bone, and even the wall behind the Goblin.  
Again and again and again that plays in his head.  
Peter closes his eyes but he still can see it, and if he opens his eyes he’s actually looking at the Goblin, slumped at a 90 degree angle on his glider, lifeless and motionless. His eyes stare at Peter blankly, yet they still had fury, fear, pain, and hate trapped in his frozen gaze. The helmet that would haunt Peter’s mind was on the ground and Peter squeezed his eyes shut, not wanting to look at it. He tried to tell himself that he didn’t have to be scared. Why though?  
Because the Goblin was dead.  
Dead, because of Peter.  
“It wasn’t your fault Pete,” Tony assures him, as if reading his mind.  
Peter didn’t believe him. He couldn’t.  
It was his fault, no matter how many times Tony said it wasn’t. Yes it was. Yes it was.  
Yes. It. Was. Peter grips Tony hard, not saying anything, just looking at him with wide eyes, trembling and shaking.  
Tony tries to comfort him, but Peter knows the truth. A person- a living and breathing person, villain or not, is dead, and it’s Peter’s fault.

“Peter, kid look at me-” Tony pulls the boy away from him and holds him at shoulder length, “This wasn't your fault.”  
Peter just looks at him, shaking and blinking. His kid glances down at his hands, then at the Goblin, starting to pull away from Tony, shaking his head violently, his hair falling in front of his wide eyes. He felt responsible. He was scared of himself.  
“No,” Tony says, just pulling him closer, “Peter no. Don’t. I know what you’re thinking and no. It wasn’t...it wasn’t your fault.”  
“Yes it was.” Peter finally speaks, his voice hoarse, quiet, and almost...fearful.  
Tony pleads with his kid, “Pete if you hadn’t pushed us- pushed me out of the way, I would have died, do you realize that? We both could have died.”  
Peter nods slowly, his breathing becoming more steady.  
“It wasn’t your fault.” Tony locks eyes with his son, “Understand?”  
“Yeah,” Peter says finally. It’s not a promise, but Peter’s gaze is filled more with shock and pain than the original guilt and horror. Somehow that’s better. Tony holds him, turning him away from the awful scene so that Peter’s back is to the Goblin.  
“I’ve got you kid,” Tony says softly, one hand in his kid’s hair.  
Peter lets out a choked sob on his shoulder, gripping Tony’s arms, his form shuddering, but he whispers, “I got you first…”, in between his panicked breath.  
“Yeah. Yeah you did kid,” Tony says, holding his son tight against his chest before he grabs Peter’s mask with a free hand. Tony puts his other hand firm around Peter’s back and slowly gets to his feet, helping Peter up. Peter’s head is buried in his armor; he’s not wanting to look at that horrible sight again, and he doesn’t blame his kid.  
Peter suddenly grits his teeth because of the pain and Tony realizes how good Peter had been of hiding it as he helps him limp out of that room of horrors.  
He supports most of Peter’s weight but not all, because the kid made sure his feet were on the ground so that he could stagger forward. But when they got outside, in the pitch black night, Tony grabbed a protesting but weak Peter, picked him up in his arms, and took off. His thrusters fired up and they shot through the sky. When Tony finally touched down some 9 minutes later, Peter’s sobs had slowed. The kid was wreck- not only hurt physically, but scarred mentally as well, and probably scared out of his mind. Tony didn’t know what to do.  
He didn’t know what the Goblin had said to Peter before Tony got to him, or how much pain his kid was in. And he didn’t know what he did to him before Tony came bursting back in the second time and saw him lifted off the ground and against the wall, almost choked to death. He hadn’t gotten there fast enough. Tony’s Iron Man arm had detached when he was under the rubble and the Iron Man hand shot out, did a loop and grasped his limp arm, pulling him from beneath the rubble. Tony had gotten to his feet slowly, stumbled, then shot forward to go get the kid he had left to fend for himself when he had fully regained consciousness. He remembered bursting back into the room and seeing the Goblin choking Peter- holding him by the neck as Peter struggled weakly, limp, his legs sluggishly kicking. Anger heated up in Tony’s chest as he smashed into the Goblin, tearing him away from his son. Peter dropped to the floor, coughing and-  
Tony shook his head, pushing the memory away. Peter’s face was screwed up in pain as he lay his head against Tony’s chest, a few silent tears sliding down the brave kid’s cheeks.  
Tony said, “Hang on kid,” as he hurried him down the hall, the suit giving him a boost when there was a clear hallway.  
“FRIDAY send a team,” Tony said, his mind spinning. He had been too worried about Peter that he didn’t think about the building or the Goblin.  
“Already took care of it,” FRIDAY assured him.  
Tony felt himself relax a little; one less thing to worry about, but he was still tense. Peter moved in Tony’s arms, crying out in pain, and Tony bit his lip as he saw the blood that had smeared on his armor from Peter’s head. He got Peter to the med bay and set him down on one of the metal tables.  
“Hang in there kid,” Tony said.  
“It hurts,” Peter said softly, gritting his teeth.  
“I know kid, I know…” Tony rushed around getting supplies to patch the kid up. This was his fault. And Tony had to fix this. He had to.

“I’m fine…” Peter murmured after Tony had bandaged up the worst wounds and given him an ice pack for his black eye. Tony reached and handed Peter his mask and Peter took it with trembling hands. Tony had forgotten he had the Iron Man suit still on and he let it recede and hover in the corner as he covered Peter’s hands with his.  
“Don’t you dare believe anything he told you, ok? I don’t know what he said…” Tony trailed off as Peter looked down.  
“Look at me kid. You’re amazing Peter. With and without the mask. You hear me? Don’t ever think anything differently,” Tony said firmly, looking right in Peter’s soft brown eyes.  
Peter bit back tears and nodded, rubbing the red fabric between his fingers. Then his gaze lowered to Tony’s chest and his eyes widened, “T-tony! Your chest-”  
Tony looked down and saw the wound that didn’t look good at all. His shirt was stained with blood and Peter was freaking out, starting to tremble as he stared at the cut.  
Tony put a hand on his shoulder and made him raise his gaze.  
“I’m fine. I’m fine,” Tony assured him.  
Peter made him go clean out the cut and bandage it before he started talking to him again, and when he came back, Peter looked a little better. The kid was sitting up and he said, “I called May.”  
“And?” Tony raised his eyebrows.  
“She’s glad I’m ok. I said I was staying for the rest of the week, I hope that’s ok,” Peter said, wincing like he forgot to ask Tony.  
“It’s more than ok kid,” Tony grinned.  
Peter smiled back, then wrung his hands in worry.  
“Can we say I’m training?” he suggested weakly. “That might explain most of the bruises-”  
Tony frowned sympathetically, pulling a chair over to Peter’s table, “You don’t need to hide anything from her kid.”  
Peter knit his eyebrows, nodding vigorously, before he stopped because that looked like it caused him pain, “I know I just...I don’t want her to worry. Or not let me…” Peter trailed off but Tony knew where he was going.  
“Be Spiderman,” Tony finished.  
Peter wrung his hands, “Yeah.”  
“I won’t let that happen,” Tony promised.  
Peter grins.  
“Look kid, we need to talk about…” Tony started but never finished. About what? He wanted to know what the Goblin did, if Peter wanted to talk about that, but more importantly- most importantly- how this was all Tony’s fault. He needed his kid to hear he was sorry. He needed to apologize, even if the kid wouldn’t accept it, because he never did. Tony wasn’t perfect, but Peter seemed to think he was, which only made Tony strive to be better. And vice versa. Tony’s about to say all of those thoughts out loud when the phone rings.  
Peter looks down, kicking his feet.  
“FRIDAY who is it?” Tony sighs.  
“It’s Ross sir.”  
“Put him on hold,” Tony winks at Peter who starts to smile.  
“It’s urgent sir.”  
“Then tell him to leave it urgently,” Tony responded.  
“Stark, we need to talk.”  
That was Ross somehow, and FRIDAY apologized, “Sorry sir, he pushed emergency call.”  
“Ross, for the love of God, hang up the phone right now and go crawl down whatever hole you came out of,” Tony says, pressing his fingers against the bridge of his nose, setting his hand down on Peter’s knee as he groans and falls forward, exhausted by Ross’ calls. Peter grins, holding back a laugh.  
“It’s about the accords,” Ross says.  
“Oh really?” Tony said sarcastically, “Maybe I didn’t make myself clear. Hang up the phone-”  
“Maybe I didn’t make myself clear,” Ross says, walking into the room. Peter and Tony look up in unison, with identical expressions on their faces.  
Ross seems confused as he sees Peter in the Spiderman suit and both of them looking pretty beat up. Peter’s eyes go wide but then he looks at Tony who makes a face and shrugs. Ross blinks, looking at him before he shakes his head. Tony sighs. Clearly he doesn’t watch the news.  
Ross is still looking at Peter. He looks very, very annoyed.  
“You’re…that means...what? Okay? Off topic- Stark.”  
“I don’t know you. Security breach!” Tony shouts, pointing at Ross, “FRIDAY, alert Pepper. This one’s on her, she had security this week-”  
“Stark,” Ross says, annoyed.  
“I’m fine how are you?” Tony says sarcastically.  
“Stark!”  
“What?” Tony snaps. Peter slowly gets up to leave but Tony puts his hand on his shoulder and shakes his head slightly, “Hold on Pete, give me a second with Thaddeus.”  
(Ross hated when people used his first name, which is exactly why Tony used it.)  
“Look, I’ll leave if you really want me to-” Ross says, holding up his hands.  
“I really really want you to,” Tony nods vigorously.  
“I hate you,” Ross sighs angrily, “and I don’t care that that is unprofessional.”  
“Hey, it’s alright. The feeling is mutual,” Tony assures him, “Ooooo is that unprofessional? Do I need to apologize?”  
Peter actually snorts before he breaks into a coughing fit to cover it up. He mutters, “Ow,” and brushes his bruised stomach.  
“Don’t hurt yourself kid,” Tony says, keeping a straight face with difficulty.  
Peter smiles.  
Ross sighs and tosses a folder in his direction. Tony moves backward even though he could have caught it, and makes no attempt to grab it. It falls to the floor and slides a couple inches, open and revealing a bunch of papers.  
“I told you I don’t like being handed things. Having things thrown at me is even worse.”  
Tony looks at the folder on the ground rather annoyed, “Besides, I had a building dropped on me today and you seriously expect me to do homework?”  
Ross ignores him, like it’s totally normal for someone to have a building dropped on them. He says, “Board meeting on the 10th. Be there.”  
The 10th. Why does Tony remember that date? There’s something on that day. He sees Peter’s face fall and his kid’s gaze lowers a bit. Tony knows what it is. It’s Peter’s birthday.  
“Nope. Busy,” Tony says, “ok you’re leaving now so bye.”  
“Busy?” Ross says, like it’s a bad word.  
“Yeah. It’s the kid’s birthday. Reschedule or have it without me,” Tony shrugs.  
Peter’s grinning.  
“It’s an important meeting Tony,” Ross insists, glaring at him like that will make him change his mind.  
“I know it is or we wouldn’t be having it,” Tony says, “unless I’ve been wasting my time for the past 20 meetings. And if I have been, I would suggest not telling me because that would make me very, very pissed off.”  
Ross glares at Tony before shaking his head, “Unbelievable.”  
“Wrong. Believable,” Tony corrects, standing up, “I have a life too you know, and you’ve pretty much ruined it for the past month. So go away, go make a fort out of all the papers you’re going to give to me, and do them yourself, instead of wasting your time telling people they’re wrong. I’ll call you if the team contacts me, but besides that, I’m taking the rest of the week off, and the 10th. Only emergency calls, so unless you’re dying or the world’s gonna end- actually no, only if the world is gonna end do I want to hear from you. Understand? Great. Bye Ross.”  
Ross glares at Tony again, his hands in fists.  
“There’s the door Ross,” Tony repeats cooly. Ross turns and walks away without a word.  
“Oh, wait, Mr. Ross, you forgot this!” Peter calls after him, shooting a web at the folder and flinging it in a spiral toward Ross who catches it sloppily, glares at both of them, and then slams the door shut. Tony grins at his kid and gives him a fist bump without looking as Ross’ footsteps fade.  
“Well that was fun, what were we talking-” Tony turns back to Peter who gives him a hug, crashing into him so hard the chair rolls back.  
“You remembered,” Peter said happily.  
Tony laughed, pulling the chair back to its original spot once Peter pulls away, “Of course I remembered kid.”  
When they get settled back down, Tony rubs his face with his hand. He locks eyes with Peter and frowns, “I know you don’t want to hear it, but I have to say I’m sorry.”  
Peter’s about to say something but Tony puts out his hand, “Let me finish Pete. You can say it wasn’t all you want, but this was my fault. A lot of it was- all of it was. None of this would have happened if I hadn’t been so involved in work and not paying attention. I would have been there, I could have helped you, I could have done something, and he would never have hurt you-”  
“Tony-” Peter lets out a strangled cry, and shakes his head slowly.  
Tony takes a deep breath, grasping his left wrist to stop his hand from shaking. That darn hand always shakes. He continues, “I’m just- I’m sorry,” Tony says, “I’m so sorry kid.”  
Then he shakes his head and laughs with minimal humor, “Wow. Glad you’re not videotaping because I don’t think any of the other Avengers have heard those two words. Because I’m never wrong you know.” Tony winked.  
Peter grinned, “I know.”  
“Yeah I am wrong kid. A lot of times,” Tony says softly. He’s just too proud to admit it.  
He looks up at Peter and punches him lightly on his good shoulder. Peter gives him another hug.  
Then Tony clasps his hands, “Well it looks like my schedule is cleared so what should we do?”

That night, Peter went to bed after watching Star Trek with Tony. He was really happy, more than he had been in a long time. May had stopped by a little earlier to make sure Peter was ok, and he admits he did tear up when he ran to hug her. But hanging out with Tony was the best part, especially when they started to patch up his Iron Spider suit. Then Tony sent him away to do homework so he could add a few more perks in there as a surprise when it was finally done. It was a fun night, and Peter thought he would have good dreams, despite everything that happened that day. But when Peter finally went to bed, it was a different story.  
The minute he walked into his dark room he felt a shiver down his spine and his happiness vanished faster than he thought it would. Peter lay under his covers shaking a bit, and he slept with his handmade web shooters on, just to feel safe. That wasn’t enough. Whenever he closed his eyes he felt like he was in the dark room again. Peter jolted in his bed, flinching as he felt a fist connect with the side of his jaw. His bruise throbbed. He woke up, gasping and he looked around the room. There was nothing there. Of course there wasn’t anything there. Peter knew it wasn’t real, but he couldn’t help but be afraid as he sank back down into the bed. His hands were shaking, his eyes squeezed shut, but that only made it worse. Peter grit his teeth as he lay, twisting and turning, every once in a while flinching as another fist hit him, or the glider slammed into his back and jerked him to the side. Peter gripped his pillow, silent tears building up in his eyes, pain he thought had gone away was suddenly back, sending waves of agony throughout his body.  
He couldn’t close his eyes or he’d be in the dark. He couldn’t open them or the two yellow lenses would be bearing down on him, the evil snarl of the Goblin’s mask right above him, a hand gripping his chin. Peter somehow fell into deep sleep after about an hour of mental torture; he had exhausted himself to sleep. But with sleep, now the nightmares could creep in…

Peter sat up on the floor of his room, figuring it was another nightmare that had jolted him awake. When his eyes adjusted though, he saw his room was a mess, things scattered and smashed to pieces. His bed was in shatters, his posters ripped, his desk and chairs overturned. The window was broken and as Peter slowly got to his feet he had to maneuver to avoid the shattered glass.  
“Tony?” He called quietly.  
“The itsy bitsy spider climbed up the water spout…” a voice sang.  
“No,” Peter gasped. He shook his head, trying to wake up, but he couldn’t. He knew he was dreaming, but this felt real, it felt so real...  
The door swung open and Tony was standing there. For a split second, Peter started to breath again, letting out a sigh of relief until Tony spoke.  
“Pete-” he said softly. Someone appeared behind him, holding Tony by the back of his neck.  
The yellow eyes bore into Peter’s, “Hello Spiderman.”  
“You’re not real,” Peter sobbed.  
Tony arched his back and struggled, trying to shake off the iron grip that only tightened, “Peter-”  
“Tony it’s ok. It’s not real-” Peter tries to say, but who’s he assuring? Tony or himself?  
“Not real?” The Goblin cackles and before Peter could do anything he sees a knife come out of nowhere and appear through Tony’s shirt. It went through him. Peter screams, his eyes going wide in shock.  
“TONY!”  
“Is that real enough for you Peter Parker?” The Goblin hisses. Peter’s second scream is choked in his throat and he lets out another strangled whimper.  
Tony yells in pain and drops to his knees as the Goblin releases him. Peter lunges forward, grabbing Tony in his arms and pulling him away from their enemy. Blood pools from the stab wound, soaking Peter’s clothes. Tony coughs, his breathing fast and raspy. Peter’s trembling, trying to get Tony to calm down when he finally shakes his head gripping his temples. He looks around the room and shakes his head again, backing away from both Tony and the Goblin.  
“Pete-” Tony coughs, his eyes begging Peter to come back.  
Peter crawls backward, tears in his eyes as he denies Tony’s pleads. He presses his back up against the edge of his bed, muttering, “It’s not real. Wake up Peter. Wake up. Wake up Peter!”  
The Goblin suddenly grabs his chin, the yellow lenses flashing, and Peter sees the crazed eyes underneath them, “Yes wake up Peter,” he taunts, “wake up!”  
Peter rips away from the Goblin’s grasp and pulls his legs up to his chest, shaking his head.  
“Wake up Peter,” the Goblin laughs, taunting him as he dances around the room.  
But now it’s Tony’s voice that is begging him to, “wake up! Peter wake up! Please kid-”  
And Peter spirals back into reality.

Tony heard the kid scream his name and immediately he was awake. Pepper grabbed his arm, waking up as well.  
“Is he ok?” she said anxiously, sitting up on her elbows.  
“I’m sure he’s fine, stay here-” Tony said, jumping out of bed and stumbling out of the room. In a flash he was down the hall and bursting into Peter’s room. The kid’s eyes were squeezed shut and he was on the floor, his sheet tangled around his legs, sweat soaking every inch of his body. He was limp on the floor, holding his head and crying, “Wake up Peter!”  
Tony had no idea what the kid was seeing, but he knew it had something to do with the Green Goblin. Tony’s heart shattered when he saw the tears streaking his kid’s cheeks. Tony dove to the floor, grabbed his arms and pulled him forward, shaking his shoulders, “Wake up! Peter wake up! Please kid-”  
The kid was gasping, trembling on the floor, trying to pull away.  
Tony raised his voice, “Please, wake up Peter, come on-”  
Peter gasps, blinking, his eyes focussing. His gaze meets Tony’s and he breathes a short sob of relief and he touches Tony’s chest, over and over, crying, “Are you ok? Are you ok?”  
Tony is overwhelmed but he assures him, “I’m fine kid, I’m fine. It wasn’t real. Whatever you saw, it wasn’t real, it’s ok. It’s ok Pete.” He feels Peter sink into his chest, taking deep breaths as best he can.  
“He...you were there and he stabbed you and...my room was- I couldn’t save you-” Peter sobbed, his breathing picking up speed again, “and I knew it wasn’t real but...those eyes, I saw them Tony- and are you okay?” Peter says firmly. That last question has a tone stands out from the previous gasps.  
“I’m fine. Hey, hey, look at me, I’m fine. It was just a nightmare. You’re ok. I’ve got you Pete,” Tony promises, holding his kid who’s trembling against him.  
“I got you first.” Peter buries his face in Tony’s shirt, squeezing his eyes shut like he doesn’t want to see something.  
Tony holds him until his breathing is back to normal and then he feels Peter grow heavier against his chest. Tony scoots up against the bed and leans against it, his arms still protectively over Peter who’s slowly but surely, falling asleep.  
Tony breathes a sigh of relief when Peter finally does drift off. He rubs his kid’s hair and keeps him tight against his chest.  
Pepper comes in a few minutes later, and sits down at his side.  
“Is Peter ok?” she asks, “What happened? Is he ok? Oh the poor thing…”  
“Tired himself out,” Tony says, looking down at Peter, “Nightmare. Bad one. ”  
“Do I need to call May?” she asks.  
“No, I think he’s ok,” Tony said, looking down at Peter.  
Pepper bites her lip brushes hair away from the Peter’s face. She reaches up and grabs Peter’s blanket, laying it over him before she gets to her feet and whispers, “I’ll be right back.”  
She returns with some pillows and comforters, and then she kisses Tony goodnight. He grabs her hand and pulls her down to kiss her again. Pepper laughs.  
Tony grins, then looks down at Peter, “I’m gonna stay with him awhile longer. To let him sleep. You can go if you want-”  
“If you want to get rid of me you’re gonna have to do better than that,” Pepper grins, settling up against him on the opposite side.  
Tony smirks and kisses her on the head, “Guess I do.”  
It doesn’t take Pepper long to slowly nod asleep and then it’s only Tony who’s awake. He looks at Peter, and then Pepper. Maybe this was as close to a family as he could get, and if it was, Tony would be fine with that. But he promised himself to never let his kid get hurt like that again, and he would be by his side whenever he needed him. Whatever happened, they would get through it together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed the chapter, thank you all for reading!!  
> Chap 21 coming tmrw!


	21. Rooftop

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wow! Last chapter...this fic has come so far! Thank you all for sticking with it and make sure to continue to; it is far from over! But thank you so much for the kudos and comments, I'm so glad you all love this story! :)  
> Enjoy the last chapter, it's a very happy and peaceful one before we get into infinity war... fun fun fun.

On the 10th, Peter woke up with a big grin on his face. He shot a web at the far wall and swung himself out of bed. He threw on a Stark Internships hoodie and almost broke off the knob as he opened his door. Peter ran down the hall and jumped over the balcony, shooting a web and swinging himself into the kitchen. May saw him first, drinking coffee at the kitchen table, (she had stayed the night), and she jumped up to give him a big hug.  
“Happy birthday Peter!”  
“Thanks May!” Peter said happily, hugging her tightly back.  
Tony turned from his spot at the stove and grinned, “There’s my boy!”  
Peter lunged into his arms gleefully.  
“Happy birthday kid,” Tony said softly, ruffling Peter’s hair.  
“Thanks, Dad,” Peter said, his voice muffled, but he knew Tony heard him.  
Pepper gave him a hug as well, “Happy birthday, Peter.”  
“Thanks Pepper,” Peter grinned.  
Peter is currently really, really happy. Just then FRIDAY speaks:  
“Happy birthday, Peter.”  
“Thanks FRIDAY,” Peter says, doing another backflip just because he can.  
“Tony, it’s time,” Pepper says, holding up her phone to him, away from Peter so he can’t see.  
Tony grins at her, then says casually, “Hey, Pete go get the door real quick?”  
“Yeah,” Peter says, too happy to think about who was showing up at 8 o’clock in the morning on a Saturday. He runs down the hall and does a flip, landing perfectly and grabbing the door handle. He opens it and his mouth drops.  
“Happy birthday kid!” Steve grins. Captain America stands in the doorway and the Avengers are fanned out behind him, each with identical grins on their faces.  
“You’re back!” Peter shouts happily, stepping back to let all the Avengers inside, each one giving him a huge hug and a happy birthday wish. They weren’t supposed to be back yet. The Accords had gone rather well, and although there was still tension, there weren’t any restrictions made, which meant the team would be coming back. But they had told him unfortunately that they would miss his birthday. But now, they were here. It was everyone- even Clint and Scott.  
“Tony said you weren’t getting back till next week!” Peter said, his grin even wider.  
“He wanted to surprise you. Paid for our own jets so we could make it back in time,” Sam said, smiling.  
Peter grins, “Wow. Thanks. It...it means a lot guys.”  
“Hey, we wouldn’t miss your birthday for the world Pete,” Scott says, ruffling Peter’s hair.  
“Come on in, you haven’t seen Tony or Pepper or May-” Peter says, sprinting into the other room, doing a backflip off the wall out of happiness.  
“Showoff!” Clint calls.  
Peter laughs, sliding into the kitchen and exclaiming to Tony, “You didn’t tell me!”  
“Surprise,” Tony laughs, “Hey showoff, go get Steve to help you grab the extra table. Breakfast is ready.”  
Peter and Steve easily lift the table and they bring it into the other room. Soon everyone is seated, talking loudly and laughing. And then they eat.  
Pancakes, (Peter’s favorite), are served and there is enough to feed an army, which means they had to make a few more so that everyone could be full. Peter drowns his in syrup. Natasha eats hers without syrup and everyone blows up at her about this outrage. Scott even dramatically leaves the room to calm himself down.  
Peter’s full by the end of it, and there’s an even bigger smile on his face now.  
Peter starts grabbing plates out of habit to clear them away and Wanda smacks his arm, “What are you doing? No. Sit down birthday boy, I’ve got it.”  
In 10 seconds she’s put all the plates in the dishwasher without even getting to her feet. The red magic fades and she smiles at Peter who grins back.  
Peter’s handed 2 gifts by Happy who runs into the kitchen, “I have to go kid, sorry I can’t stay, but the press doesn’t stop. You’re welcome Tony. I’m working my butt off for you and Pepper. Happy Birthday, Peter!”  
“I love you, Happy,” Tony calls, making a heart with his hands and blowing him a kiss. Happy waves him off, jogging away.  
“Thank you!” Peter shouts, ripping open his gift from Ned: a picture of the two of them at the science fair with a really cool Star Wars picture frame made of legos. There’s a movie gift card taped to the back that says STAR WARS. Peter grinned.  
Then his second gift was a homemade cupcake in a box and a letter from Michelle.  
Happy Birthday loser.  
I may or may not have poisoned the cupcake. Don’t die. Go buy something cool. I didn’t care enough to get you something. Just kidding. See you at school.  
~MJ  
There’s a 20 at the bottom of the box. Peter grins and takes a tiny bite out of the cupcake. He doesn’t drop dead, so that’s good. He’ll save the rest for later.  
“Presents!” Rhodey calls suddenly.  
Peter’s slightly shocked, “You guys got me presents?”  
“Of course we did kid. We save the world, we’re kind of rich,” Clint winks.  
Tony coughed loudly.  
“Ok, Tony’s rich,” Clint corrects himself.  
“Someone go first,” Natasha said, “or I will.”  
“Wait!” Tony shouted suddenly, “Not everyone’s here!”  
Peter knit his eyebrows, “What do you mean? Oh gosh Tony, did you invite Ned? He would lose his freaking mind-”  
“No I didn’t,” Tony laughed, “you’ll see. Let’s move this party to the living room. I need to hook some stuff up to the TV.”  
Peter got out of his chair and jumped up, crawling on the wall all the way down the hallway to beat the crowd of Avengers. He looked down at them from the ceiling, and laughed to himself; seeing them all in jeans and t shirts was a little weird. Peter grinned and hung from upside down right in front of Scott when he wasn’t paying attention. Scott nearly jumped out of his skin, trying to swat Peter away as he dropped to the ground laughing, dodged a swing from the Ant-Man and sprinted down the hall.  
Peter had a running start and he backflipped over Tony this time, and landed in a perfect crouch. Peter glanced over his shoulder at Tony who had freaked out, stumbling back with his hand clutched to his chest.  
“Pete,” he laughed, “how about walking in like a normal person?”  
“Where’s the fun in that?” Peter grinned, “I’m not normal.”  
“True. Now go sit down,” Tony laughed again.  
Tony was fiddling with the TV as they all crowded into the room. Natasha, Clint, Tony, and Peter got to the couch first. (Well Peter claimed 2 spots, one for him and one for Tony, kicking Scott out.) Steve and Wanda took the two chairs to either side. Vision stood, talking with May behind the couch. Scott, Rhodes, Bucky and Sam grabbed the bar stools and sat on those 4 and pulled in two more chairs in case May and Viz wanted to sit down. Tony pushed a button on his phone. Peter read the name of it: FacetimePlus. He pushed call, but Peter didn’t see what the contact was. Peter didn’t know there was a FaceTime Plus.  
The TV was black, and then it flickered. Peter noticed a camera on top of the TV and in the top right corner of the screen, it showed them all sitting in the living room. Then the numbers at the top of the screen (since it was just a projected view of Tony’s phone) started counting, meaning whoever Tony had called had picked up. Peter heard a familiar tune from the other line.

“Hand me down my walking cane...hand me down my hat…”  
Rubberband man. Peter loved that song. And it was one of...Quill’s...favorites…  
Wait a minute-  
“Yo!” A voice came from the TV. Peter’s eyes went wide. He knew that voice.  
“Quill, you idiot, your screen is black!” Tony shouted, groaning but laughing.  
Quill’s voice sounds confused, “What? No it’s not! I can see you guys. Hi Peter!”  
“Hi,” Peter says, but it comes out in a squeak as his mouth drops and he waits in total shock.  
“Yes it is Quill,” Tony insists. “Your camera’s off or something. We can’t see you.”  
“That’s a problem,” Quill says, shuffling the phone around.  
Rocket’s voice rings out, “Quill, do you want me to do it because it looks like you’re incapable-”  
“I’m the captain, I’m going to do it,” Quill said stubbornly, mummering along with Rubberband Man.  
“You are not the captain, if anything, I am!” Rocket says.  
“No you’re not!” Quill shouts.  
“Can we please put this argument on hold please?” Peter smiles. That’s Gamora.  
“Rocket! Stop screwing around!” Quill’s voice snapped.  
“You broke it Quill!”  
“I did not break it!”  
“What happened to it then?”  
“I don’t know!”  
“Is your camera on?” Tony asked, like he was talking to a 4 year old.  
Quill sighed, “Yes it is on- wait... I think so?” There was some shuffling.  
Tony grinned at Peter who was still in shock.  
“It’s Quill and...and…” Peter was at a loss for words and he grinned at Tony.  
“Yeah, well, it was supposed to be a really nice moment, but Quill can’t work a stupid phone!” Tony yelled pointedly.  
“Says the person who doesn’t know what a flip phone is,” Steve coughs.  
“Rogers-” Tony threatens.  
“It’s hard, give me a break. This is so advanced,” Quill grumbled, and there’s more shuffling.  
“Advanced? It’s outdated! You’re in a freaking lightspeed spaceship! You should be able to figure out how to do a simple Facetime call,” Clint laughed.  
“Was that Hawkeye?” Quill’s voice rang out, “Someone slap him.”  
Sam wacked Clint in the chest.  
Peter had been watching with the biggest grin on his face, happier than he had been in a long time. He looked at Tony who was rubbing the bridge of his nose, adjusting his glasses and sighing, shaking his head.  
“Flip the camera,” Tony suggested.  
“How?” Quill asked.  
“Hmmm, maybe you push the button that has a camera and a reverse sign,” Tony said sarcastically, “Give that a try.”  
Quill didn’t pick up on the sarcasm and shouted, “Oh I found it, I found it- you did not find it Groot, I found it,” Quill said angrily.  
And then the screen turned on.  
Quill grinned, “It worked! Can you see us?”  
“Yes!” Peter said.  
The phone was leaned up against the front of the ship so they could see everyone. Quill was right by the phone, and Rocket was sitting on top of the chair that Gamora was lounging on. Drax was snoring in the other chair and Mantis was sitting on one of the steps with Groot on her shoulder.  
“Quill!” Peter shouted gleefully.  
Quill grinned, “Happy birthday, kid!”  
“Thanks! Hi guys! Oh my gosh, I’ve missed you all so much,” Peter said. Then he scratched his neck, “How are you...because you’re...in space…?”  
Tony smiled, “I made my own app and boosted the signal. They got close enough to Earth for me to connect.”  
“Wow,” Peter said, completely in awe.  
“Yeah and by the way, Quill, you’ve ruined my kid!” Tony called out, putting his arm around Peter, “He listens to 70s music all the time now.”  
Quill laughed, “Once you go 70s, you never go back.”  
“I am Groot!” The little tree waved, hoping down off Mantis’ shoulder and running over to peer in front of the camera.  
“Hi Groot,” Peter grinned, waving back. Somehow the tiny tree knocked the camera over and Quill tried to fix it again, only for Rocket to butt him out of the way.  
“No. You’re fired,” the raccoon said.  
“Hey!” Quill protested.  
Rocket righted the camera and turned up the volume, sighing, “I think I’m the only one who actually read the manuel. At least I’ve found someone who speaks English. Thank you Stark.”  
Tony gives him a salute.  
Rocket grinned, “Happy birthday Pete. Oh hey guys, what’s up?” He waves to all the other Avengers.  
Everyone shouts their hellos.  
Peter grinned, fidgeting in his seat, “Thanks.”  
Quill smacks Drax, who wakes up, “Dude, are you sleeping while we’re timefacing?”  
“Facetiming,” Tony corrects.  
“Right,” Quill nods.  
“I was listening,” Drax said.  
“No you weren’t,” Quill spluttered.  
“Hi Peter,” Mantis says, smiling wide.  
“Hey Mantis,” Peter waves.  
Gamora grins and says, “Happy birthday Peter.”  
“Thanks,” Peter says happily.  
“Presents!” Scott shouts.  
“Oh yeah, yeah...presents,” Tony says, “Quill, how long can you hold your position?”  
“That’s what-” Quill started to say but Gamora kicked him. The Avengers snickered. Peter grinned. Quill laughed and checked some calculations, “As long as you need. Unless we get a distress call. So give Peter ours first just in case.”  
“Got it,” Tony said, grabbing a bag from behind the couch and giving it to Peter.  
Peter couldn’t stop smiling and he slowly took out the 2 gifts. He tore off the wrapping paper and looked down at the present. It was a cassette player with a cassette tape labeled “Awesome Mix” inside. Some old fashion headphones were wrapped around the player and Peter untangled them and then gently picked it up.  
“It has all of our songs on it,” Quill said, “unless Tony switched some out.”  
“Unfortunately, it’s only 70s crap on that thing, not a single normal song.” Tony shook his head sadly.  
“Now we can match!” Quill shouted, standing showing Peter the identical one on his belt.  
“You have no idea how hard it was to find that,” Tony groaned.  
Peter laughed and said, “Thanks guys.”  
“Open the next one,” Drax said, excitedly rubbing his hands. Gamora laughed, shaking her head. Groot leaned in, pearing in front of the camera, only to get yelled at by Rocket who said he was blocking his view.  
“We got the gift you dumb raccoon, you don’t need to see it-” Quill started to say, but Gamora kicked him telling him to be quiet because Peter had opened the second gift, folding away the wrapping paper and taking the lid off of the box.  
“Don’t call me a raccoon,” Rocket hissed, but Peter was barely listening. He pulled a cool swiss army knife and turned it in his hands, almost afraid to flip it open because it looked so perfect. But he did flip it up and there was an awesome, sharp blade on the end, with a little spider engraving on the side of the knife.  
Peter loved it.  
“What is that?” Drax shouted angrily making everyone jump. The man shook his head in disappointment, “Quill, you said we got him a knife! That’s a toothpick! This-” Drax took out his long blade, “is a knife. That,” he pointed at Peter’s knife, “is not suitable for battle-”  
Quill kicks him to get him to shut up.  
Peter grins, pulling open all of the tiny blades, “I love it, this is awesome. Thanks guys.”  
“No problem,” Quill grins.  
Then Sam shoves his wrapped box to Peter who goes to sit on the floor so that everyone can see him open his gifts, “I think we did good.”  
“Did well,” Steve corrects.  
“Ok so first it’s language, and now you’re correcting my grammar?” Sam asks, laughing.  
“Gosh dang Steve.”  
“I’m sorry!” Cap says, getting punched by Bucky.  
Peter’s already smiling, even before he pulls out his gift and laughs; it’s a Spiderman action figure. He moves the legs and arms around, still laughing.  
“Payback for the Falcon and War Machine action figures you got us,” Rhodey grins. For their birthdays last year, Peter had gotten them action figures, so it was kind of a running joke.  
“Iron Patriot,” Sam corrects, grinning.  
“That’s still way cooler!” Peter says.  
“No it’s not,” Tony grumbles.  
“Yeah it is,” Peter whispers. Tony throws wrapping paper at him and Peter shoots a web at it and deflects it, unfortunately causing it to hit Natasha instead. Tony apologizes, laughing as Nat chucks it back at him. Rocket’s snickering as Clint gets hit right in the face by Steve, which is a mistake, because it’s Hawkeye for crying out loud. So Clint then proceeds to lay low for a while, muttering he’d get Steve back, which he does: 20 times actually, all direct hits, and hard hits at that. Then Bucky goes to avenge Steve and realizing he can’t win in a battle of throwing paper balls against a man who never misses, just tackles a laughing Hawkeye instead. Peter just sticks himself to the ceiling and watches the chaos below him, stopping most of the wrapping paper balls that are thrown at Tony and flinging them all back to their senders. Vision just does his weird phase shifter thing and so no one aims at him; all the paper just goes through him.  
“Peter’s cheating!” Sam laughs. Then they all start aiming at him and Peter’s shooting webs now as he gets hit with paper, which makes the place very, very sticky.  
There’s a debate through the craziness whether or not they should all go and get suits on to settle this the old fashioned way, which causes Tony and Steve to cross the room in two strides and meet in the middle, squaring up. Tony and Cap put on their mean faces and say “put on the suit,” through gritted teeth. Natasha finds this hilarious, and Peter can’t help but laugh too even though he knows it’s an inside joke he doesn’t get, and then everyone’s laughing again.  
“I’m not afraid of you old man,” Tony says, giving Cap his best amused, but angry look.  
“Put on the suit,” Cap hisses before they both clap each other on the back and laugh. Peter’s laughing as he’s pumelted with wrapping paper. The throws start to die down, but Scott’s always the one to start the chaos back up so finally Peter just webs his hand to the couch.  
The war finally ends and the floor is littered with tiny pieces of paper and Peter’s webs. Everyone’s stomachs are hurting from laughing so hard.  
“If I remember correctly,” Tony shouts over all of the noise, “someone’s password was WARMACHINEROX, all capitals, no spaces, rocks with an x, Rhodey. Iron Patriot is not cooler,” Tony points out, sinking back down on the couch.  
“Tony Stark wants to thank everyone for listening to his TED talk,” Sam announces.  
“Anyway, happy birthday Peter,” Rhodey says.  
“Thanks guys, I love it,” Peter says.  
“I want an action figure,” Quill grumbles under his breath.  
“Your ego’s already big enough Quill,” Gamora coughs.  
“Hey Stark’s doing fine and I bet he has one,” Clint points out, “Probably like 50 in his room-”  
“That’s enough from you Clint,” Tony says, but he’s smiling. Peter laughs and thanks Rhodey and Sam again, setting the action figure in his pile. By the end of the gift opening, Peter’s surrounded by presents. Wanda got him some really cool science books. Bucky and Steve got him some Stark Trek and Star wars posters to hang up in his room. Clint got him a cool 3D electron orbit figure along with some inside joke gifts: an orange peeler (which Scott steals to cut his hand free; Peter had truthfully forgotten about webbing him), a hot sauce bottle and some glow in the dark stars and planets for his wall and ceiling.  
Scott got him some video games and a Star Wars book, the “nerd book”, as he called it. Vision got him a few t-shirts, the ones with the funny science or math puns on them, and then a laptop bag, which was odd because Peter didn’t have the kind of laptop it was made for. May got him a new controller for his PS4 because his old one had broke and a new laptop, which explained Vision’s gift and made for a good laugh. Natasha gave him the screwdriver set he had been wanting for working on his DVD player he was fixing up and a bag of Doritos because everyone knew Peter loved Doritos. Peter was very, very happy. He had all the Avengers with him, Aunt May and Tony, and the Guardians cracking jokes, Quill and Rocket bickering, and everyone laughing and poking fun. It was fun. And it was family.  
Then came Tony’s turn and he handed him a box first. It was the new 3D DIY metal model of the Star Wars AT-AT. Peter had been wanting it for a while and he grinned, shouting he loved it. He gave Tony a big hug. Everyone looked at Stark, as if expecting more, but honestly, Peter would have been just fine with just the Star Wars model. But of course, it was Tony, and he winks, waiting for a few seconds just for dramatic effect before he jumps, “Oh, and then there’s this.”  
Tony pulls a set of keys out from his pocket and tosses them to Peter who catches them in awe and just stares at them in his hands.  
“You got him a car?!” Natasha shouts. Sam whistles.  
“No, it unlocks a super secret box with the Audi symbol on it-” Tony drawls, “yes Nat, I got him a car.” Tony’s grinning super wide and Peter’s expression matches his.  
“What’s a car?” Drax asks, looking confused. The Guardians squint to see the keys that are laying flat on Peter’s palm.  
“A very dangerous vehicle and a big responsibility,” Tony grins.  
“Dangerous?” Drax says, rising out of his seat, “I will kill it-”  
Quill forces him back down into the chair, shaking his head, “Idiot.”  
“Oh my gosh!” Peter yells, tackling Tony with another hug. Tony hugs him tight before Peter pulls away and grins at everyone, “Thank you guys.”  
“I’m glad you liked it kid, and by the way, perfect, not perfect timing. We just got a call and have to go to work. Save the galaxy and stuff, I know, I’m sorry, we’re just so cool,” Quill says to the chorus of groans.  
“We’ll see you around kid, keep in touch,” Quill says, winking at Peter, clearly deflated he has to go.  
“Bye! Thanks so much,” Peter says again, “It means a lot…”  
“Anytime. See you soon! Bye guys!”  
Everyone waves and shouts they’re goodbyes and then Peter thanks them again, grinning happily.  
“Bye Peter, happy birthday,” the Guardians call in unison- except for Groot who says, “I am Groot,” and Drax who’s a second behind every word.  
The screen cuts out and Peter sinks back onto the couch in happiness.  
“You tired kid?” Tony laughs.  
“I’m exhausted. This is all so cool,” Peter mumbles happily.  
“Well the day isn’t done yet,” Tony grins. 

Peter and the Avengers got home at 11 o’clock at night. May had gone home early because she had work the next morning and she gave Peter a hug before she left, “Happy Birthday Peter, I’m so proud of you.”  
“Thanks May,” Peter says, tearing up just a little.  
It had been an awesome day. Tony had taken them all to the movie theater and booked the whole room so they were in the only ones in the theater. Then they gone to the mall, the food court, some museums, and then just walked around town. At 10:30, the moon was bright, the sky was dark, and you could tell people were getting tired. Tony had one arm around Peter and his other hand entwined with Pepper’s. Her engagement ring flashed in the moonlight and Peter couldn’t help but grin. When the action had finally died down, Tony suggested they get back to the compound; it was getting late. Peter drove home half of the Avengers in his new car, and man, was it an awesome car. He couldn’t wait to rub it in Flash’s face. Sam drove the other half home in Tony’s car, because Tony insisted in being in the same car as Peter during his first drive. Peter didn’t crash or break any laws which was good. When they got back at the compound and they got out of the Audi, laughing and grinning. Peter can honestly say it’s the best birthday he’s ever had.  
So good, that he couldn’t fall asleep. Everyone had said goodnight and happy birthday and gone off to their separate rooms. Peter had given Tony one last big hug and said, “Thanks dad. Thanks for everything.”  
“Tomorrow, we won’t be this nice. It’s back to hard knock life for you,” Tony teased, ruffling Peter’s hair and hugging him back with a gentle, “Happy birthday Pete.”  
“Thanks,” Peter’s grin hadn’t gone away since the minute he woke up. He walked into his room and for once, he thinks that night he’d be nightmare free. The dark is still there, in the back of Peter’s mind, but he’s too happy for it to take over. He closes his eyes, laying down on his bed, but his mind doesn’t drift off. Peter opens his eyes and stares at the ceiling for a while before he tries again. Still, he finds he can’t fall asleep. He tosses and turns for a few minutes, recounting the day’s events in hopes that it would lull his mind and make him tired, but if anything it just made him more awake. Peter looks at the clock. 12:51  
Not really knowing what he’s doing, Peter swings his legs over the side of the bed and stands up. No, he shouldn’t wake Tony. Peter gets back in bed and just lays there, restless and rather annoyed, but still happy, when suddenly there’s a knock on the door and it opens a little. Tony peaks his head in, “Pete?”  
Peter sits up, “Yeah?”  
“Ok good, I can’t sleep either. Come on,” Tony says and Peter jumps gleefully out of bed and sneaks out the door. Tony puts his arm around Peter and they walk silently down the hall so they don’t wake any other Avengers.  
“Where are we going?” Peter whispers.  
“You’ll see,” Tony says, taking his arm off of Peter’s shoulder as he opens the door to the stairwell. They go up a few flights, which Peter’s done before when the elevator was broken, but then Tony keeps going. And going. And going.  
“Why didn’t we take the elevator?” Peter groans after a couple minutes.  
“You tired Spiderman?”  
“No,” Peter grins, “Just asking.”  
“Because the elevator, can’t take us, up here,” Tony says, coming to a point where there are no stairs left to climb, just a door. He opens it and he and Peter step out onto the roof. Peter’s eyes widen and he turns around, looking at the night sky and the world below him. They’re really high up. They cross to the edge of the roof and Tony points out a spot.  
Tony and he sit down right next to the ledge and Peter looks around in awe. The lights on the compound are brilliant and bright, and Peter can see the moonlight dancing across the water of the lake. The trees are swaying slightly because of the breeze and the stars are more visible than he’s ever seen; he has, after all, lived in Queens his whole life, where there are too many lights to see stars. But out here, they’re defined, bright, and twinkling, and Peter looks around again in complete awe. It’s a beautiful sight. Peter lowers his head; it’s starting to ache from craning to see the night sky and grins again.  
Tony’s smiling as well and he sighs, “I like it up here.”  
“So do I,” Peter said happily.  
“If you ever need to talk, or if you ever need a place to think or you’re stressed, or something happened or anything,” Tony says, “go up here Pete, ok? If I can’t find you or you can’t find me for some reason, go up here. I’ll know where you are,” Tony said, nudging his shoulder and nodding.  
“Ok,” Peter nodded. He liked that. He really liked that. He likes it so much he gives Tony a big hug out of the blue and Tony hugs him tightly back, wrapping his arms around him.  
The cold breeze makes Peter shiver in Tony’s arms; he’s in short sleeves. Suddenly he feels Tony pull away and take off his jacket, draping it over Peter’s shoulders. Peter smiles, pulling the black fabric up to his chin.  
They just sit there for a while, looking out over the building.  
Then Peter breaks the silence and says, “Thanks for everything, Tony.”  
Tony smirks, “No problem, kid. You’re amazing.”  
“Thanks,” Peter laughs.  
“I’m just going to say it now,” Tony says suddenly, breaking the silence, “because whenever I say it, I’m usually dying or you’re hurt, and I don’t only mean it when that happens, I mean it-” Tony takes a breath, “My dad was never there for me and like I said, I’m trying to break the cycle. I’m getting used to the whole father figure thing, and I know I’m not very good at it. Just know that I’ll always be there for you. Always. With whatever’s going on,” he promised, “you can always talk to me. Ok Pete?”  
Peter smiles, his chest filled with pride and he choked on his words, “Thanks Tony, I- I will.” 

Tony laughs, rubbing his forehead, “Yeah well, I need work don’t I kid? Your Aunt told me to protect you, and since then you’ve almost died twice.” He nudged Peter’s shoulder lightly.  
“But that’s kind of my fault,” Peter said, grinning and nudging Tony back.  
“We’ll share the blame on this one,” Tony suggested.  
“Deal,” Peter said happily.  
“I don’t plan on losing you Pete. Ever. I’m going to annoy the heck out of you until the day I die, I hope you know that,” Tony said, half-serious.  
Peter laughs, “I know.”  
“Good,” Tony smiles, “and then maybe one day you’ll take over Stark industries.” Tony winks and changes the subject, rubbing his hands together, “Well I want a midnight snack, you hungry?”  
“Yeah I’m hungry- wait what?” Peter said, startled, “I get to take it over?”  
“Maybe. What? No. I never said anything,” Tony gets up, grinning.  
Peter scrambles after him laughing, “Yes, yes you did!”  
“We’ll work all that out later. Much, much later. We’ve got a while,” Tony says. “Right now, ice cream and Star Wars?”  
Peter grinned and there was a little hop in his step, “Which one?”  
“You pick,” Tony said opening the door for him, but Peter made sure to turn around and take one more look at the night sky and the beautiful lake and trees. Tony draped his arm around Peter’s shoulder.  
“Thanks Tony,” he said happily. They walked inside and Tony shut the door behind them.  
Peter said, “I couldn’t sleep.”  
“I know you couldn’t; I had a feeling,” Tony said as they started the long trek down the stairs.  
“We’re connected,” Peter shrugged, smiling.  
“Uh huh,” Tony said, grinning back.  
They make it downstairs and Peter goes to pick out the Star Wars movie while Tony gets ice cream. They settle down on the couch and watch The Empire Strikes Back. It’s 1:01 in the morning. Peter and Tony talk and laugh since they’re far enough from the other wing where the Avengers are all sleeping.  
Peter and Tony finish their ice cream and lay it on the table.  
Tony mimics Darth Vader's line, “I am your father.”  
Peter says, “No! That’s impossible!” in a really high pitched voice making Tony laugh.  
The end credits roll a while later, and the music plays, but it’s fading. Tony and Peter had moved to the floor about 20 minutes ago and they had their backs against the couch. Peter’s leaning up against Tony, his head on his shoulder, Tony’s arm around him. Now Peter’s eyes start to close, and he sinks against Tony’s side. Tony’s head rests against Peter’s and they both finally fall asleep. Father and son.

Pepper walks in after realizing Tony is out of bed. She walks into the living room when she hears a movie playing and sees Return of teh Jedi playing on the screen, the TV's glow lighting up the 2 asleep audience members, slumped against each other on the floor. Pepper smiles. She kisses Tony and bring a blanket to lay over the two of them before she turns off the movie and lights.

Peter’s a really lucky kid. He barely hears Pepper whisper happy birthday to him he’s so tired. He gives her a small sleepy smile and pulls the blanket she lay over them up to his chin. Peter thinks about how lucky he is as his mind drifts off. His dad is Iron Man, and Peter is Spiderman. His closest friends are Avengers, and he’ll be one of them one day. He saves people for a living, gets good grades in school, and has a future to look forward to. Whatever happens, whatever bad things come his way, he’s got Tony. He knew that they’d get through it. Together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for the second fic: Infinity War!  
> First chapter should come out tomorrow on a second fic so go into my works to find it!  
> Comment your thoughts, you all are amazing and I hope you have an awesome day!
> 
> PLEASE READ: For the next fic- I have written basically the whole movie plus a bunch of extra scenes. I'm putting in my original scenes I thought of, and some needed scenes just stretched out (disclaimer- marvel obviously owns all of the wonderful amazing things in the next fic) but if there is any scene in particular from the movie you want, please comment it and I'll make sure i include it. I will be focused on Peter and Tony and then the whole Titan gang, but some of the deaths, major scenes and ofc the ending will be included as well. But if you have anything in particular you would just love to see written out or just love a scene etc, please let me know!
> 
> PART 1 AND 2 ARE OUT! :) :) go check them out and tell me what you think? Thank you so much for your support❤️


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